Soul Of Runeterra
by Azrael7100
Summary: Axel used to think that League of Legends was just a game. He never expected any of it to really exist and not be a mere fantasy. The hero of this story is now placed in the League of Legends world filled with all of the champions, factions, and the horrifying creatures that lurk in the dark...
1. Chapter 1: The Champion Arrives

Hey guys! This is my first attempt at a fan fiction so any kind of criticism or reviews would be fantastic (grammar and spelling may be out of wack for somethings and I apologize in advance)!. This will be rated M because of the coarse language and themes that will be used later on the the story. Also as you read the first chapter I apologize the unintentional pun/reference... thingy (if you get it tell me!). Without further adieu, here's the first chapter!

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Chapter One: The Champion Arrives

He used to think that The League was just a game; a means to entertain himself and millions of other people. He never could have expected it to exist for real. The unlikely "hero" of this story is now is unknowingly going to be sucked into this fantasy realm called Runterra, filled with the champions of his game, and the dark secrets that are lurking in the shadows…

PENTAKILL! The announcer yelled from the computer's speakers. The owner of the device was propped against his chair with a wide grin was over his face and clicking manically around the screen so that the being he controlled to attack the enemy Nexus. After a few more seconds the announcer proclaimed "Victory!"

A sharp sigh escaped from his mouth and he relaxed into his chair. After he exited the game his friends told him good job and well done on going on a flawless 23/0/19 streak. He replied to all of them and a small smile overcame his face when he heard a familiar 'Ding' sound come from his phone. He stared at it and saw the words "You know I love you Axel…" brightly on the screen.

Axel looks at the message and replies to it quickly. "Man… this just went from good to bad in a split second." The phone then began to ring and he picked it up hastily putting it to his ear.

"Hey you~" said a flirtatious voice on the other end of the phone. "Hey Alice…" he replied.

"Aww what's wrong Axy? Did something happen sweetie?" ask Alice. This had struck a nerve and he gave out an irritated sigh. "You've obviously forgotten so… I'm just gonna drop it," Axel in an upset tone.

This had caused a small period of tension between the two. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes before Alice gained the courage to say something. "Axel… you know that wasn't what you thought okay? I told you that he pushed me down and… kissed me. I didn't do anything to provoke it and I sure as hell didn't enjoy it," Alice said with sadness in her voice.

Axel scoffed and replied, "You sure looked like you were enjoying it. Why didn't you just go out with him in the first place? Everyone, even my parents know that you like him more than me. That would have saved us the trouble of even fighting in the first place."

"You really do hate me… don't you?" Alice murmured to him. An exasperated sigh escaped Axel's mouth and he rubbed his forehead. "I don't hate you. It's just that… 'Betrayed' feeling I still have. Even if it was an accident, I still feel immensely emotionally damaged and can't get the incident out of my head."

Axel could tell she was close to crying because her voice started to falter on the other end. "I-I'm sorry Axel… I just didn't want this to happen." Alice said almost crying. Axel sat there in silence before a small 'Beep' sound was heard. He was now left all alone in his room.

Axel kept the phone up to his ear for a while as a singular stream came running down his cheek. "Well this fuckin' blows. I have one potentially ex-girlfriend and a possibly very pissed off friend to deal with now," a now depressed Axel says to himself.

He looks up at the clock and sees it's almost 9 o'clock. "Well, time to sleep. Maybe this shit will be cleared up tomorrow" Axel grumbles to himself. He then shut down his computer, crawled under his covers and slowly drifts off to sleep.

_Meanwhile in that one place…_

The small regiment of soldiers dressed in silver armor with bits of blue and gold was tirelessly trekking up the large mountain. At the front of this regime was a bulky man clad in armor from head to toe. He carried with him an exceptionally large sword in his right hand as he, as well as the other soldiers marched towards their objective.

On each of the front corners of the platoon, a flag was raised bearing two golden winged lions clashing swords together. "Dauntless Vanguard stand fast! We are almost at the top, just a little longer" shouted the large man.

There was a collective sigh and groans but the soldiers kept on marching. The Might of Demacia continued to march with them until they got to the top of the mountain. Garen raised his hand to halt the brave warriors approach. "Start constructing a camp ground right now! The sooner, the better we can defend if Noxus arrives here as well" he ordered the troops.

As soon as Garen had given the order the troops began to construct a makeshift camp for the time being. As he surveyed the camps construction, Garen noticed two flashes of blue light appear behind him. He turned to give a small smile as he was greeted by his sister Luxanna the Lady of Luminosity, and the Crowned Prince himself: Jarvan IV.

"Garen!" Lux squealed as she quickly embraced her brother. He returned the sentiment and tightly hugged her. She soon let go as Jarvan stepped forward. Garen quickly saluted the prince before he waved his hand.

"Garen please, we are old childhood friends. So why not greet each other like so?" Jarvan said to his Commander. A small sigh of relief came over Garen before he and Jarvan shared a grin and gripped each others forearms tightly. "Good to see you friend", "And same to you Garen. So tell me, what is this news we heard of this "mysterious champion" everyone is talking about?" Jarvan questioned.

"Well we received reports on-" "It seems that whoever this new champion is, they are rumored to be extremely powerful and also don't seem to have any ties with anyone" Lux interjected. Jarvan scratched his stubble and thought of the situation. "So I assume every ambitious nation is trying to add another champion to their roster eh? A wise strategy for everyone" he nodded.

The two Crownguards nodded with him before walking off to start strategizing if another force came up. The Lightshield stood there in a brief pause of silence before a scout came running up to them.

"Your Highness! I bring news about a small Noxus army approaching from the western side of the mountain" huffed the scout who was out of breath. "How many men?" inquired Jarvan. "Roughly one-hundred strong my lord. With the Hand of Noxus and the Sinister Blade taking charge of it" replied the scout.

A grim face came across Jarvan's face before he nodded. "I will relay this to the Commander and the Lady myself, you are dismissed." The scout saluted the prince and ran off towards the rest of the group.

"So Noxus ordered two of their finest warriors to acquire this new champion… This could mean trouble" Jarvan mumbled to himself. A hearty pat on the back came out of nowhere and he looked behind him to see his old friend.

"Let Noxus come my prince. They will not lay a single hand on that champion, I swear on my honor" Garen reassured him. A small grin appeared over the prince's mouth and nodded in agreement. "No one will get to this new champion before us. For the glory of Demacia!" proclaimed Jarvan to his troops.

Upon hearing this, the crowd of troops raised their fists to the sky and shouted "FOR DEMACIA!" With the Demacian troops morale now sky high they felt that they would win this battle for sure.

"How much longer till we reach the top?" groaned the assassin. Ignoring her complaint the Hand of Noxus simply grunted and replied "We'd be up there by now if it wasn't for your insufferable complaining." The assassin gave a mocking gasp as if the words he said stung.

He simply ignored her and kept on marching with his small army leading behind him.

Katarina curled her lip into a pout but she kept on following the General. Darius kept his trusty axe in hand and gripped the shaft of it as is he could sense its thirst for blood. Looking behind him he saw the one-hundred strong from the Crimson Elite: the strongest and most deadly warriors to prowl in Noxus.

Katarina groaned again before shunpo-ing in front of Darius. "Again, how much longer Darius?" she questioned. The man clasped his forehead before raising his hand for the troops to halt. "Katarina," he growled. "If it wasn't for your father Marcus being my superior and the Blade of Noxus, I would have ended your pathetic whining in and instant." The girl scoffed and brushed back strands of her blood red hair back from her face.

An intense starting contest broke out between the two before the redhead waved her hand and started to walk away. "If my father was here he would have ended you as well Darius. You may be the Hand that strangles the foes of Noxus, but my father is the one who cuts them down." He repressed the urge to slice her with his axe before turning and continuing his march.

The rest of the warriors followed after their leader leaving the assassin standing there by her lonesome. Although Darius got the feeling that he may have gone soft on the Sinister Blade, he grinned as he knew the Demacian Dauntless Vanguard would be no match for his Crimson Elite. The army of bloodthirsty men and women continued to climb the mountain until they too finally reached the top. What they saw when they got there gave all of the Noxians a wild grin: a challenge to quench their bloodthirsty way of life.

An alarm clock rang loudly in the silent household. A groan came from underneath the blankets and an exhausted Axel rose from them. He stretched out his back and a loud yawn erupted from his mouth.

His sleepy eyed self dragged himself out of bed and walked into the bathroom. After a quick shower, Axel got dressed in his usual attire of jeans, a t-shirt and his trademark hoodie. Now that he was dressed and showered he felt ready to take on the day. Although last nights fight had taken a toll on his mental state, he tried to hide it with his flashy grins and atrocious jokes.

Walking over to the kitchen he went over to the pantry and pulled out two slices of bread before promptly placing them in the toaster. As he waited for this toasted deliciousness to finish, he went to the sink and filled a cup of water before slurping up the beverage in large gulps.

A 'ding' from the toaster came and Axel ran over and snatched the newly toasted bread from the machine. Lying the two slices down on a paper plate he began to lather them in butter and grape jelly, his favorite combination. He quickly scarfed down one piece of it before promptly wrapping the other in a paper towel.

After finishing his breakfast he ran by his parent's room and promptly said his goodbyes before rushing out the door with his toast in hand. "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, gonna be late, gonna be late!" he exclaimed to himself.

Starting to run faster after eating his last piece of toast he bound down the street towards his school. _Maybe I can clear things up today with her. I'll set things right for sure this time._ Before Axel cut a corner that would have led him to the entrance to his school, a peculiar navy colored light emanated from the alleyway beside him.

Screeching to a halt the teen tilted his head sideways and looked around before heading down the alleyway. Walking cautiously up to the lights source he peered around to see if anyone was around. As he approached the light it suddenly engulfed him and he couldn't move. Everything went white afterwards.


	2. Chapter 2: New Home

Chapter Two: New Home

After the light had faded Axel was sitting in the middle of a warzone. He could see axes, swords, daggers, and magic being thrown around between the two terrifying armies. Confused and now scared Axel had absolutely no idea what was going on.

He looked around frantically trying to make sense of what was going on. Before he could do that however he knew he had to escape the bloody battle that was happening before his eyes.

After he managed to escape the fray, Axel started to look around for signs of where he might be. Looking around frantically as fear consumed him he noticed two very distinct things in the middle of the fighting. He squint his eyes to focus more on them before he let out a shuddered gasp.

Clasping his mouth to prevent himself from screaming he recognized the two crests of the most terrifying military presences in the game he so loved. "T-that's Noxus and Demacia's crests" he murmured to himself. Before he could continue talking to himself he felt a terrifying gaze creep up behind him.

A sharp blade was pressed against his neck and let out a small whimper. "Please don't tell me you're the new champion" Katarina sneered. Shocked, Axel turned around and stared at the redhead that had a blade pressed to his neck. "What the hell? Katarina?!" he exclaimed with wide eyes.

The red-headed assassin gave him a confused look and brought the blade closer to his neck. "So it seems that the new champion knows about me eh?" she barked at him. A shudder of fear came across the teen as he was now frozen at the fact that one of the characters in the game he so loved was now about to end his life.

Before he could utter out a sentence a large sword fell from the sky and Katarina threw Axel across the battlefield to avoid being pierced.

_Ok this has to be a dream_, he thought to himself. But again his hopes of this being a nightmare were dashed as the Demacian Commander charged forward to engage his female opponent. Katarina gave a fierce growl before pouncing on Garen who bellowed out his battle cry of "Demacia!" before clashing blades with the assassin.

Axel was about to relax before another blood curdling war cry was heard from the crowd. "BLOOD FOR NOXUS!" This petrified Axel even more as he saw the now visible figure who screamed the cry. The figure wrenched out his axe from a corpse and its edge was dripping a crimson liquid. It then turned towards the cowering boy and gripped the handle of its axe tightly. The massive warrior drenched in blood started to approach him with his axe hung low.

"Oh fuck me not Darius!" Axel cried out loud. Darius seemed to hear him and a scowl etched itself across his face. Before too long the Hand of Noxus started to rush towards Axel before another cry for Demacia was sounded.

A flurry of gold jumped in front of the teen before a craggy erection of rock surrounded it and Darius; trapping both inside of it. Axel's heart had leapt out of his chest when the thunderous fighting around him got even louder. He clasped his ears with his hands and held his knees to his chest in an attempt for him to keep the sound of war out of his ears.

For what seemed like a second he thought the fighting was done. A brief sense of tranquility came over his face before he looked up. His eyes widened again as he saw a dark red dragon holding him by its claws.

What seemed to be the thousandth time he screamed again, Axel tried to wriggle himself out of the dragon's grasp. All this did was make the dragon momentarily release him before holding him firmly in its talons. Before he could say anything else the adrenaline coursing through his blood ceased and the now exhausted teen fainted.

As Axel dreamed he recalled moments of the past couple of days: The discovery of his best friend kissing his girlfriend, the then later fight with his girlfriend, and his sudden appearance onto a battlefield he thought only existed in his dreams and games. As swiftly as these dreams

Light had begun to pour through the cracks of the curtains and Axel soon began to stir. Once he had awoken he rubbed his eyes and yawned. Looking around still bleary eyed he couldn't recognize the room he was in. After another stretch and yawn it finally clicked into place: He wasn't at home, or even his world. Axel was now residing in the world named Runeterra.

A knock at the door made him jump before a soft voice called from the other side. "Hey you in there! You up yet?" Confused he looked around and found that he was in a plain white shirt and in white black sweatpants. "Uh yeah!" he replied. "Just give me a second!"

The teen then looked at the mirror positioned next to him to see if his appearance was decent enough. "You can come in now" he announced to whoever was at the door. The doorknob creaked and swung open revealing a short, blonde, and very energetic girl. A sigh of relief came out of his mouth and leaned back on the bed.

"Thank god you aren't one of those Noxians; I'd most likely jump out that window over there" Axel joked. Lux had given him a serious look at first as if he was serious but it soon melted into her trademark radiant smile. "I'm glad too" she replied. "If the Noxians got a hold of you, we'd have another enemy to go up against."

"Pardon?"

"You don't know?" the blonde asked. "Aren't you supposed to be the new champion that comes from another world?"

This had him form a confused look across his face. "C-champion? Me a champion? I'm lost here Lux."

The blonde looked at him with a puzzling gaze and sat down next to Axel. He could smell her cherry perfume on her figure and a small blush started to occupy his cheeks. She gave a small giggle and covered her mouth in a cute way when she noticed the black haired teen blush.

"It seems that you don't know why you're here, so I'll inform you," she started. "We- well everyone in Valoran saw a shimmering light in the sky one night. Everyone was confused and immediately sought out the High Summoners to see what it was." The teen nodded and waited for her to continue.

Lux started to look around as if someone was spying on them but she started to continue her explanation. "Anyway, we asked the High Summoners what was going on and they told us that a new champion from a different world was approaching; and they weren't aligned with the Void."

After the explanation the two sat there in silence. The blonde sat there too, twirling her golden locks nervously between her fingers. She was about to perk up before the door to the room was slammed open.

They both jumped as the rumble of the door shook the bed they were sitting on. "I see he has awakened!" bellowed a loud voice. Axel's heart crept up into his throat as he feared where the voice originated from. A large hand soon found itself on his shoulder and was accompanied by a grin. "I see my sister has already visited you. I assume you told him everything?" the figure turned to Lux.

It was Garen who was still dressed in his usual attire. A feeling of relief washed over Axel's mind and he no longer had panic running through his chest. "I was about to get to the main point Garen," she replied. Looking back at the black haired teen that had the look of confusion over his she flashed him a quick smile in an attempt to calm his nerves. "What my brother is referring to is that I was sent to try and recruit you," she said with a devilish grin on her face. "Join Demacia? Wait why do you want me to join you guys? I don't even know how I am a champion and, hell I don't even know what kind of champion I am!" he exclaimed. The siblings looked at each other and their own look of confusion spread across their faces.

"Then why did you appear?"

"I don't know okay. All I remember is running to school, seeing a flashing blue light, running into it then… well the rest you two know."

Axel clutched his head trying to recall what else happened but to no avail. Then fear began to consume his thoughts. _What if I can't go home? What if I'm stuck here for the rest of my life? _Lux and her brother saw that he began to tremble with fear and started to attempt to calm his nerves. Still shaking with fear he couldn't get the thought of never going home and setting things right with people out of his head.

"Hey… Hey! What's wrong!" faded in a voice. Axel's sudden state of shock was broken by the panic filled words. He looked over hoping it was Alice but to his disappointment it was Lux who was gripping tightly onto his shoulders. He was then greeted by another hand on his shoulder but it felt heavier than Garen's. Again he was greeted with a smile but this one was more rugged, and very prince like."Jarvan…" whispered Axel. The Prince seemed to hear him and his smile seemed to enlarge itself. "I see even the newcomer knows of my name," he says in a smooth, yet gruff voice. "Yes there's a thing I'd like to ask this one, if he was up for it," a new voice says behind the Prince.

Peering behind the golden clad warrior stood another woman. Although dressed in a combination of scaled and leather armor, the woman's fiery red hair which flowed down into a large ponytail that almost reached her feet and eyes that matched the same intensity of her hair were her most distinct features. Given how he could tell that she was probably impatient given by her constant rapping of her boots, Axel gave a quick nod for her to ask her question.

Jarvan huffed and waved his hand. "Very well then," Shyvana nodded, how is it that you know who we are, yet you are a newcomer to our world?" The statement sunk into Axel's chest quickly. He knew that he couldn't just tell them that they were characters from a popular game he had played in his world but… perhaps it would work. He took a quick breath in to ease his nerves and prepared for what he was about to say. "Well it's a long story to be honest- Well maybe not that long."

The occupants of the room shifted their gaze to him and began talking. "You see, where I come from: Valoran, Demacia, Noxus, the League? It's all just a big… sort of strategy game that millions of people play on a daily basis. Magic, the Void, giant men wielding massive axes and swords, women that shoot laser beams out of their baton or turn into dragons don't exist. All of this is merely fantasy."

At first Axel thought that he wasn't convincing enough due to the silence that ensued but was soon broken by Jarvan. "So the League, the factions that exist in Valoran and Runeterra are just… mere fairy tales? A means to entertain _millions _of people that think this is all make believe?" The way Jarvan said millions seemed to make his face flash in anger. Axel gave a small nod as a response.

* * *

"Damn it! We were so fucking close!" roared Darius. He had slammed down his mug of alcohol and barked for another one. Hiding in the shadows behind him, Talon was propped against the wall staring intensely at his wristblade. As the bartender gave Darius another mug, a flash of red found itself sitting next to the drunken and enraged General. "Oh calm down Darius. It wasn't like we were expecting that dragon woman to appear on the battlefield," Katarina hissed. She ordered a shot of Noxian whiskey and the bartender slid her down a shotglass filed with a dark brown liquid.

Darius merely grunted and sipped on his drink. The redhead merely shook her head and devoured her shot of relief. They both ordered another drink and the bartender merely nodded and gave them another round of drinks. Suddenly the room was filled with the cheering of someone's name. "Oh god no. Bartender! I'm gonna need a stronger drink!" Katarina yelled from over the crowd. Darius's head seemed to sink more into the counter, clenching his mug's handle tightly.

A large wallop found its way onto the General's back which caused him to jump a bit. "Hey there brother. How did that snatch-n-grab mission go? Draven was a little sad that he couldn't go, but he knew his force would do the job." The General simply sighed and topped off his drink. "Draven we didn't capture the new champion," he grumbled. Draven's usual never-ending smile faded from view. "You mean... you _Failed?_ Draven always thought that his bloodthirsty brother would never lose to anyone; especially the Demacian troops."

That had been the last straw. Rising quickly from his seat he grabbed the collar oh his younger brother's flashy attire. "The Hand of Noxus does not fail. Nor will he ever," growls Darius. The onlookers shift their gaze onto the brothers as the bar fell into a silence. The two brothers stared intensely into each other's eyes before the eldest dropped the younger one. With a small snarl Draven left the bar leaving his brother and the assassin to drink alone. As soon as he left the crowd picked back up the chatter and business went back to normal.

"Fuckin' idot…" Darius whispered. He slumped back onto his barstool and found that his drinking companion was passed out on the bar. An exasperated sigh came out of the General's face and he slouched onto the counter. "Another drink I'm guessing?" the bartender suggested. His response was a small grunt and went to get another mug for the livid Noxian. Darius had never felt such rage before, especially towards his younger brother. Draven could be a handful at times though. Sliding over the mug with a solemn nod, Darius nodded back in thanks and drank the contents hastily. He couldn't let weakness cloud his judgment.

After he had finished the last of his drink, Darius hefted Katarina over his shoulder and started to drunkenly trot down the roads of Noxus. The next morning for both the assassin and General were a living hell. Their night of binge drinking greeted each of them with throbbing headaches and an acidic burning sensation in their throats. A collective groan filled the room as the two hungover Noxians walked into it. "I may have drunk too much last night," groaned Katarina. "I second that," Darius said between gritted teeth. Their grumblings were soon broken by the clacking of wood on stone.

Both of them shot up to a sloppy salute as the figure made its way into the room. It simply waved its hand and the two went back to sitting down. "I see you are coping well at this loss," Swain's raspy voice said. Darius began to shrink into his seat when hearing those words. They stung him harder than Skarner's tail or Teemo's poison darts. He knew he failed but he tried to keep his strong and unwavering composure. "Apologies sir," murmured the General. Shaking his head Swain simply sighed and joined his companions. Katarina scooted away from him, not wanting to smell the molting feathers of his pet raven Beatrice. The Master Tactician simply ignored her and started feeding his pet raven crumbs of bread.

_This is... pretty awkward_, Katarina thought to herself. Swain turned his head and surveyed his subordinates. The tension surrounding them could set of a bomb if treated any more. Finally, the Tactician arose from his seat and cleared his throat. "Yesterday's attempt at securing a new champion for Noxus was a failure, but it doesn't mean that we should give up. For all we know they could still have not allied themselves with Demacia yet," he said to them. A shudder went down the assassin's spine as if expecting her superior's superior to lash out on them. "Speaking of," he turned to Katarina, "What did this newcomer look like?"

"He looked pretty wimpy to me. His clothing didn't seem out of the ordinary from Valoran's norm," she replied to him.

"And Darius? Your input?"

"The same as her, I don't see how that puny little thing was supposed to be rumored the most powerful champion to exist," Darius grunted with displeasure.

The Tactician stroked his chin gently in deep thought. "Well looks can be deceiving remember? You never know, he might be what everyone has been talking about." Looking at each other, the Hand of Noxus and the Sinister Blade exchanged a silent agreement. "Sir if I may," started the General. Looking at him with his beady eyes Swain nodded at him. Standing straight to attention the General faced his superior, "With your permission I'd like to lead a secret mission to reclaim the new champion." Katarina found herself leaning against the wall awaiting for a response. He put his hand up to his face once more to evaluate the situation.

"How many shall you be taking on this mission?" he questioned. "I will be taking myself, Katarina and Talon with me sir," quickly replied Darius. Another approving nod came from Swain as his raven-like eyes seemed to pierce his soul. "Very well, but do know if you are caught, there will be no rescuing for you." The General saluted his superior once more, this time with more grace and perfection. The redheaded assassin simply nodded before disappearing to find her half-brother Talon.


	3. Chapter 3: The Whirling Pathways

Chapter 3: The Whirling Pathways

Katarina finally found her half brother in his room, sharpening his trusty wrist-blade. "Talon," she said aloud. "We have a new mission, top secret at that." The hooded assassin didn't seem to mind her and kept sharpening his blade. "Talon? Did you-", "I heard you Kat," he growled softly. The redhead scoffed and leaned up on the wall adjacent to him.

"What crawled up your ass and died?"

"None of your damn business," he retorted.

"Well it seems to have pissed you off so tell me what the hell happened."

"Just shut up and go away will you? I need to finish fixing my blade."

His responses infuriated Katarina but he didn't seem to care. Just as he had finished, she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. "That's what happens when you fail Kat, I don't accept failure no mater the odds," Talon murmured beneath his breath.

The redheaded assassin growled in a fit of rage and threw one of her daggers at a wooden target. She repeated this feat multiple times, each dagger sinking deeper and deeper into the target. As the assassin was about to throw her final dagger, a soft hand clasped itself onto her shoulder. Startled, she whisked around about to carve the dagger into the person's neck before she stopped her hand.

"Swain," she stuttered. "I didn't know it was you." The elderly man simply waved his hand but kept his raven-like eyes fixated on her blade. "All is fine Katarina. I came here to inform you about something... quite disturbing," the Tactician said in a soft voice. Sheathing her blade, she shrugged at him and placed her hands on her hips. "I'm sure I've heard worse but, go ahead."

The redhead studied the old man as he took a seat. _Wait he was a general too... and the Grand one at that,_ she thought to herself. Swain had seated himself in a chair that was near the door of the training room. "I am here to inform you that the mission that was bestowed among you and Darius has been postponed." Giving a confused look she cocked her head slightly. "That's not disturbing in the slight-" her reply was cut short by his hand raising. "That's only half of what I was going to say," he started. "What is disturbing is that I was approached by the Shadow Isle's Chain Warden."

A small shiver had found itself tingling down her spine. The assassin had fought Thresh, The Chain Warden before on the Rift. Just the mentioning of his name brought fear to many of the champions; even to Jarvan and Garen who were supposed to be as stoic as the statues in Demacia. After taking in the information she nodded her head for him to continue.

"He approached me bearing news regarding the new champion," Swain finished. "What about him?" she asked. Swain's general disinterested look turned into one of seriousness and held a slight hint of fear. "The Warden said that whoever the new champion was, they hold incredible powers that are heavily influenced by the Shadow Isles." Again she shot the Tactician a confused look. "That's not really a bad thing is it? I mean the Isles have very few champions to begin with; and it could result in another ally."

The Grand General shook his head wearily. "That may be true but the Warden told me this with extreme fear. And if a resident of the Shadow Isles is afraid, then every nation should be fearful too." Katarina's eyebrows shot up and stared at her superior. "It scared that guy? The Chain Warden of the Shadow Isles? Damn maybe I should have slit his throat," she pondered. Perhaps she should have to make sure things didn't go hell but at the same time she loved the fact that someone new and challenging had appeared.

A small sigh was heard from the Tactician. He began to rise from out of his seat and perched himself up on his cane. "I can tell you're eager to face this possible threat but I implore you to not do so. Given how he is new to this realm he might not know much about it. So I am tasking you, General Darius, his brother the Executioner, and Talon to try and... be friendly towards him." He shuddered when he thought of the word 'friendly'. Nothing disgusted Swain more than weakness, and telling his most vicious killers to be friendly to the newcomer disgusted him even more. He quickly cast aside his emotions, as they could be taken as weakness, and weakness was not tolerated in Noxus.

With a small bow, Katarina quickly exited the room to find Darius and his brother.

* * *

The room had fallen into silence from Jarvan's outburst. Axel could tell that he had angered the Prince but he knew also that it wasn't his fault. Shyvana's hand had found itself resting on his shoulder. All the tension residing in his shoulders seemed to melt instantly. A smirk came from Axel's mouth when he saw the Prince and Half-Dragon stare at each other. "So maybe it is true," he whispered.

Shyvana had seemed to hear him and let a small puff of smoke loose from her nostrils. He quickly jumped back and landed into Garen's chest. "Don't mind her. She has a short temper sometimes," Garen said comfortingly. Axel nodded and sat down at the edge of the bed. "So tell us new one, what is your name?" Lux questioned. Axel's eyes looked up at her and opened his mouth but no words came out. _I can't tell them my real name. I don't trust them enough yet to tell them. _

"My name is Elias, Elias Slade," he finally said. The group gave a collective nod and Jarvan once again clasped his shoulder firmly. "Demacia welcomes you Elias. As an ally, and as a friend." Elias nodded and smiled slightly at them. "Now I know this is rushing things but we must know: what sorts of powers do you have?" Garen asked him.

Elias froze. He remembered that he wasn't home, where magic and short-tempered half-dragons didn't exist. The Demacian group's eyes seemed to shine with excitement; Shyvana's probably were literally shining. After a pause, Elias sat up and walked towards the window, peering over the city. "I honestly don't know what sorts of powers I have. Hell in my world magic doesn't even exist," he told them. Jarvan and Garen had a puzzled look on their faces while Shyvana and Lux stared at him curiously.

The room fell into an awkward silence. "Well I'm sure the Head Summoner would be able to help with that," Lux perked up. Elias stared at her with his amber colored eyes. "Wait Revilash?" he asked the blonde. She gave an excited nod and lifted him up off of the bed. "Yep, but we can't have you meet him in those clothes," the blonde pointed out.

Looking down at my clothes I see that my school uniform was burnt at the collar and the sleeves were ripped off. "I guess that would be good but..." Jarvan rested his hand atop of Elias's shoulder. "All is fine Elias, I will get the finest tailors in all of Demacia to make attire worthy of you," the Prince says with a grand smile on his face. The thought of being in the presence of royalty enthralled Elias, but having said royalty do favors for him? It seemed like a dream. _I wish this was a dream though..._

_A few hours later..._

After the tailors had left, Elias stared at his reflection in the mirror. He was now dressed in his attire that seemed to suit him well. A sleek black hoodie with lines of red running down the sleeves, accompanied with a simple pair of black jeans with two silver X's running down both sides, and a pair of black and purple shoes. "Looks good enough, not as terrifying as Jarvan's armor but it fits extremely well," Elias says to himself. Just as he was finished brushing his slick black hair back he walked outside of the room.

"Well? How do I look?" he says while spinning around. A collective clap comes from the Demacian group. "You look a bit more Noxian than Demacian, but it seems to fit you well," Garen tells him. Elias smiles a bit but slowly backs up when Shyvana walks up to him. "Hmm..." she mumbles. "You are right Garen, he seems to look Noxian but his heart says otherwise."

A huff of relief comes from Elias's mouth and he walks towards Jarvan. "Thank you Prince for the clothing," he says with a bow. A hearty laugh comes from Jarvan's mouth and shakes his head. "It is my pleasure friend. I just hope you can be placed on Demacia's roster for champions." The teen nods and looks at all of them. "Well? Shall we be off to the Institute?" Lux asks the group. A loud cheer comes from them all and they set off towards the League of Legends.


	4. Chapter 4: Learning The Truth

**AN: **Sorry_ about the slow updates as I am currently in school. I will however try to punch out these chapters in my free time. Also if you readers would kindly leave a review that would be fantastic and also be free to tell me what I should and shouldn't do (such as longer or shorter chapters, don't touch upon this as much, ect.). To clarify something as well is when I refer to Elias as a "teen" he is 18-19 and not any younger. Also another note: I will be using skins to describe certain characters and that will be considered as their default appearance (Such as mentioned earlier was Shyvana was described in her Ironscale Skin). But as always thank you for reading these few of many chapters to come. Azrael out!_

* * *

Chapter 4: Learning the Truth

The band of Demacian champions had finally made it to the Institute of War. The glimmering monolith of a building was a breathtaking sight. But Elias knew he had no time to stare at the beauty of the building; as his main objective was to see what kind of powers he had taken upon himself as a new champion.

Elias quickly started to run up the stairs like a child on its first day of school. He knew of course that this was one of many stepping stones that would be taken to discover what wonders of Runeterra. As he left his band of traveling companions behind, only Lux seemed to keep up with his lighting fast pace. "I see someone is excited," she giggled. "Of course I am. I get to see what kind of interesting powers I have locked away inside me," he happily replies. This leads to Lux giving another giggle but she soon cuts it off when a flash of gold appears in front of them.

"Heya Lux!" says the person now standing on the stairs above of them. It was another teen, maybe even in his early 20's with spiky golden hair and cerulean blue eyes. Elias's mouth dropped as soon as he recognized who it was. "EZREAL?!" he exclaimed. His outburst was met with a small laugh and a bright grin. "So who is this Lux? A new summoner?" Ezreal asks the blonde. She shakes her head and puts her arms behind her back. "Nope, he's the new champion that was supposed to appear in our world," she replies. Hearing the rumor to be true sparked Ezreal's explorer blood inside of him.

"New champ huh? Well this is surprising," the Explorer says, examining Elias. Lux flashes him a devious smile and lightly pushes his shoulder. "Don't scare off the newbie ok Ez? We're gonna need him- if we get him, on our roster," She says to him. Ezreal raises his hands in an apologetic manner. "Sorry just can't take my eyes off of new discoveries remember?" he says with a wink. The gesture leaves the Lady of Luminosity's face literally glowing a bright pink hue. Snickering the Explorer waves goodbye and runs off.

A laugh comes from Elias's mouth and he looks at the illuminated Lady. "So I take it that that's true as well?" he nudges her. Lux then breaks from her trance and shakes her head of all thoughts regarding Ezreal. "I... I don't know what you're talking about," she says still blushing a little. Elias nudges her again and pats her back. "You like him don't you? You just can't muster up the courage to tell him?" he asks jokingly.

He soon stops grinning as the blonde's head drops out of shame. A tiny "Oh" flies from his lips. She gives him a small embarrassed nod before the rest of the group catches up to them. "Could you two go any quicker?" groans Garen, heaving out of breath. The two look at each other and grin.

"Race to the top?"

"You're on shiny girl"

And with that they were off in a flash. The two ran at a blistering pace and ran past the summoner's at a blinding speed. When the duo finally made it to the top of the stairs gasping for air. "Damn you're fast for a kid," Lux says still out of breath. Elias chuckles and stretches his arms up, "You aren't that bad yourself you know? Thought I almost lost there." The two began to laugh again and started to walk towards the Head summoner's office. The two began conversing on what daily life was like in Valoran before Elias bumped into a large figure.

"Sorry about that," he said apologetically. When the black haired boy looked up he noticed a large furry legs standing upright. _Oh god did I just bump into Warwick? I hope not, I don't wanna die! _Before his could tremble in fear, a soothing monotone voice came from above him. "It is all right child." _Well that answers that question._ Propping his hand on his knee, Elias soon stands up and brushes himself off. "Apologies Curator. I wasn't watching where I was going," Elias told him.

Nasus lifted an eyebrow and stared at the teen in front of him. "And who might you be?" the Curator asks kindly. "He's the new champion Sir. You know, the one that was supposed to come from another world?" Lux answers for Elias. A canine-like grin streaks itself across the Curator's face. "Ah I see," he replies to the blonde. Nasus begins to inspect Lux's companion and pulls a small quill and scrap of papyrus out from his armor. _Well at least he is taking notes and not taking my face off_, Elias thinks to himself.

After a brief moment of jotting down notes and estimating the height of the black haired teen, the 9 foot tall dog-man stores away his scrap of notes and quill back into his armor. "It was a pleasure meeting you Elias. I hope to see you again," Nasus bows. After they say their goodbyes Lux and Elias continue to walk to the Head Summoner's office. When they arrive Lux stops in her tracks and looks at Elias."Ready to learn what kind of powers you have?" the blonde asks in a cheery tone. With a nod of agreement as her answer, Lux pushes open the door of the Head Summoner's office.

The Head Summoner was nothing what Elias expected. Most summoners he heard of were bald; with exception to the female ones. The man in front of him however looked like Zilean, just more human and not immortal Chronomancer also he had stripes of red going through his white hair. He was also draped in a gold and purple cloak which must have meant his rank as the High Summoner. "Hello there Lux, what brings you here?" he asks her politely. She gives a small bow and smiles cheerfully at him.

"We're here to ask for a favor High Summoner." She tells him. The man's eyes perk up from his work and rests his chin on top of his hands. "And what would that be miss Lady of Luminosity?" he questions. She quickly shoves Elias in front of them which causes him to form a sheepish grin. "He is the new champion from another world you told everyone about," she tells him. Elias looks down unaware of what to do. A chuckle comes from the Head Summoner. "So he must be Elias eh? Word travels fast here in Valoran. My name is Maxis Drakstone, Head Summoner of the League of Legends."

The Head Summoner stood up and went to shake Elias's hand. He returned the greeting with as firm a handshake as he could muster. "So do you know how to 'unlock' my powers?" the teen asks. A grin appears over the old summoner's face and nods. "Indeed I do my boy. In fact it will also count as your Judgement as well," he replies. Now excited Elias's eyes brighten up. "When can we start?" he asks eagerly. "Right now if you wish!" exclaims the summoner.

The trio starts their march over towards the Judgement hall. On the way ever there Elias spotted some familiar faces conversing with one another. Xin Zhao was talking with Jarvan about different spear techniques, Master Yi was speaking to his pupil Wukong about his training, Kog'Maw speaking in guttural sounds to Cho'Gath, and Jax was drinking with Gragas. The most disturbing group of beings that they walked by were the residents of the Shadow Isles who seemed to turn away from Elias as soon as he walked by. _I wonder what made them turn away... It's not like I'm as terrifying as them or something. _

Lux, Elias, and Maxis finally made it to the Judgement room. A flick of the summoner's hand opens the massive doors. Once they were open, the Maxis ushered in Elias. "Aren't you coming with us Lux?" asked Elias. She shook her head and stepped away from the doors, still keeping her never-ending smile. _Oh that's right, no one other than the Summoners can view Judgments, _he thought to himself. Elias waved goodbye and the massive doors slowly closed behind him.

"Now then," the old summoner started. "To unlock your powers will require some focus. Are you ready for that?" The teen nodded excitedly and awaited for what to do next. A small grin came over Maxis's face as he had never see such enthusiasm before. He gestured over Elias to the middle of the room and soon walked over to his seat in the Judgement room. "

Are you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

"Then let us begin."

A faint glow appears in the center and Maxis begins chanting something in a language Elias didn't understand. The glow soon begins to grow brighter around the teen and shifts between a vibrant display of colors. Chanting even louder now, the elder summoner is now standing with his arms raised high into the air. Then a sudden blast of heat hits Elias's chest. He collapses from the invisible blow and clutches his chest as the burning sensation continues to grow. It started to feel like magma was flowing through the poor teen's body as he began to writhe in pain on the ground. The Summoner begins to chant louder and more fiercely before the light in the room is suddenly expelled in all directions.

"It is complete. Starting now you are a champion of an Independent faction. Rise Elias, Judge of the Fallen," Maxis says in a booming voice. Elias soon rose to his feet with an eerie aura attached to him. "Wait Judge of the Fallen?!" he exclaimed, "What the hell does that mean?" The old summoner shakes his head and begins walking towards him. "It means that your powers are extremely potent towards any creature; especially beings such as those of the Shadow Isles," Maxis tells him. A mumbled sigh comes from Elias's mouth and he rubs his temples. "So does this mean I'm... Kinda like a Grim Reaper?"

His question seemed to confuse the elder summoner. "Grim... Reaper? What is that?" he asks still confused. Elias cocks his head slightly and folds his arms. "A Grim Reaper in my world was a mythical being that would take the souls of the living when their time was up," the teen replies. "So a being much like Thresh but minus the endless torture brought to the souls?" Maxis asks again. "Yes, the Reaper was more of a taskmaster that made sure that souls died when they needed to and judged them based on their lives."

Maxis then strokes his beard at the response. The look on his face makes it seem that the idea of a being like Thresh but more friendlier and less tormenting just seemed absurd. Elias began to grow uneasy as thoughts of him being like Thresh entered his mind. Before he could get any more lost in thought the Head Summoner jumped back from the teen. At first Elias was confused as to why the elder jumped back but soon saw that there was a pole as large as himself brandishing a wickedly curved blade attached to the end of it had found its way into his hand. "Can this day just get any more interesting?"


	5. Chapter 5: Elias, Awakened

**_AN_**

_Hey guys! Sorry I haven't been updating this story as school got in the way. But to make it up to those who read my fanfic, I will give you all a a small token of apology. You guessed it, two chapters will be released in the next two days. But as _always, thanks for reading this and don't be hesitant towards giving a review! __

* * *

Chapter 5: Elias, Awakened

Elias wasn't expecting to be dubbed the Judge of the Fallen. Even less so to be tackled by a blonde girl going at light speed; literally. After being rammed down to the ground by Lux, Elias whimpered in pain. "Owww!" he exclaimed. The luminescent blonde looked at him for a brief second before dismounting off of him. "Sorry, sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going and I'm panicking and... and," she trailed off. Elias sat up and brushed himself off, still wincing at the pain in his back from falling. "It's fine, it's fine. Wait why are you panicking?" he asks her.

The blonde started to quiver at his question. "One of my friends, she... went missing and I'm starting to get worried about her," Lux answered with a hint of fright in her voice.

"Your friend? Who is it? And why not get the rest of the Demacian's to help you?" he quickly responded.

"I-I can't tell you okay? I just have to find her quickly... then maybe I'll show you."

"Lux that isn't going to help the situation if I don't know who I'm looking for okay? So please just tell me."

"Fine I'll give you a hint! She has white hair. That's the hint you get." she snaps at him.

Elias's eyes widened as he figures it out. "Wait is it Ri- Her?" She nods and more of her confidence seems to flood back into her. "Yes it is her. Now do you understand why I can't tell you or the others?" Lux says in a quiet voice. He nods and leans in closer. "Where was she last seen?" he whispers. She looks around the area before coming close to him, "I saw her last near the back entrance of the Institute. After that I don't know where she went."

"I'll check there first. Anywhere else she would have gone?" he asks . The blonde shakes her head. "If anywhere it would be her room but that's on the way past the... Oh gods," she exclaimed. She turns towards him and now has a scared look in her eyes. "Darius and Draven probably have her," Lux whispered with tears now forming in her eyes.

When he heard the names Darius and Draven, Elias bolted off towards the exit of the Institute of War. _Oh god if they have her she's most likely going to die. I hope I get there soon_. He started to pick up the pace before it was too late for her. Hopefully help would arrive on time. Otherwise there'd be a dead champion on his hands.

* * *

Muffled cries were heard from the bonded woman draped over Darius's shoulder. "Shut it traitor before we kill you here and now," Darius snarled. While Darius was trying to silence the woman, Draven was carelessly juggling his axes for amusement. "Hey brother," the younger sibling started, "Why go through all the trouble now to kill her? I mean she's been exiled for 3 years now, Draven doesn't see a point in killing her now." The elder of the two huffed and kept on marching. "It's because of her involvement with that Demacian scum she called 'friend' Draven. That alone is enough to warrant her death; even if she was exiled, she is still of Noxian blood."

Draven just nodded and kept walking along side his brother. _It's a pity such a young, beautiful thing like her has to go. Draven would have loved to call her his wife,_ the youngest thought to himself. Before long the two siblings were at their secret location where they would execute the woman in custody. The eldest placed her to the ground in front of him and propped her against a rock. Some more muffled cries of help came from the rag that silenced the poor woman, but were ignored by the two heartless men before her. With her hands and feet bound and her mouth gagged, there was no help coming for her. All she could do is sit there in silence until her demise.

As a gesture of caution, Darius unclipped his axe from his belt and grasped it firmly. Draven fished out a small parchment from his armor and began reading it aloud. "Riven of Noxus. You are hereby found guilty of associating and befriending a Demacian. Although you are classified as an exile, blah blah blah… You're gonna die sweet cheeks." After he had finished reading he crumpled up the paper and threw it to the side. Darius grunted and walked over to his brother. "So do you want to do it Draven? You are the Glorious Executioner after all," asked the eldest.

To his brother surprise Draven shook his head. "How about we let the lass here choose? Draven feels like sharing the glory with his older brother." Darius chuckled and patted him on the back; a sentiment that was rarely seen between Noxians. Draven moved towards the grey haired woman and took the rag out of her mouth. "Well sweet cheeks? Who do you wanna get killed by? Me the Glorious Executioner, or my brother The Hand of Noxus?," the youngest sibling asked.

Riven spat in his face as a reply. Draven stepped back from her and wiped his face. He chuckled and looked at her before striking her. "Looks like it's me you're gonna have to deal with bitch," he almost literally spat in her face. Never had he been so humiliated, not even by his brother when they were kids. Now next to his brother with his back turned to Riven he took one of his signature axes off of his back. "Untie her feet brother, Since I'm the one killing her I'm gonna do it Draven style," he tells Darius. The older one nods and unties her feet. "Now let the Glorious Executioner do his job," Draven says to Riven with an evil smile. "Run little piggy." Without a second thought the Exile dashes away in hopes of escaping.

* * *

Elias had been running for what seemed to be days. He searched tirelessly for the Exile around the Institute but to no avail. He searched and searched but he couldn't find any trace of her. "Damn you'd think a giant man with an axe and his egotistical brother would have left some form of evidence," he said aloud to himself. "Looking for something?" a small and childlike voice from behind says. The Judge of the Fallen spins quickly on his heels to be met by a small creature wearing a hat and carrying what seemed to be a piece of bamboo. "Teemo you scared the hell out of me," Elias exclaims. He sits down on a rock next to him and stares at the small fuzzy creature.

"Never met you before. Who are you?" the yordle asks curiously. "Ah the new champion that dropped in. Say you wouldn't have seen Darius or Draven around here have you?" Teemo pulls out his telescope and surveys the area. "Last I saw of them they went about a mile north of here," he states. "Why do you wanna know where they are?" Elias's face turns dark and cracks his neck. "I'm looking for someone. And those two know where to find them. A mile north of this area you said?" The small creature nods and points towards north. "Said someone wouldn't happen to be a girl they took with them would it?"

The Judge nodded slowly and had a fierce anger in his eyes. The small yordle simply nodded and put away his telescope, "Anything else you need?" Elias rubbed his temples and looked at Teemo again. "I need you to tell the Demacian's to head over there as quickly as possible," he tells him. Teemo gives a small salute before scurrying off to find them. After the yordle is out of sight, Elias dashes off towards the north in hopes to find Riven before it's too late.

Multiple thoughts began to race in his mind and they weren't particularly good ones. When he was about half way to the location that Teemo told him about, the Judge tripped over something. A muffled groan was heard but it wasn't his. When he had looked down to see what had made the sound, he saw a tanned girl with white-grey hair bounded lying face down on the ground. "Well there goes that issue," he mutters to himself. Standing up he lifts her out of the dirt and helps her stand.

When Riven was upright she started to dash again but collapsed to the ground with a cry of pain. Elias went over to help and saw that her ankle seemed to be twisted at an nasty angle, not to mention the gashes in her bare feet and her arms were bound together. "Shit this isn't good. Riven I need you to hold on tight to me," Elias commanded. She looked at him confused as to why he knew her name and why he was helping her. He quickly got down on his knees and lifted her up onto his back. Surprisingly she seemed light to him but he couldn't dawdle over that for long for he could hear voices coming in close to him.

After he heard the voices he started to break into a mad dash towards the Institute of War. Riven groaned in pain as he bounced around the rocky terrain. "Just leave me to die. I don't have a home to go to anyway," she said quietly. Elias heard her and scowled. "Dammit Riven don't say things like that. There's more to life than being an exile and having no home to return to. I mean..." he trailed off. Riven was about to ask what he was about to say but another sharp burst of pain erupted from her ankle. She gritted her teeth and whispered a curse into his shoulder.

After his little rant, the two became silent before Elias perked up again. "So why is it that Darius and Draven were out to kill you?" he asked sincerely. She sighed as if she'd been asked that a million times but responded with, "Made friends with a Demacian. What else is there to explain?" Shaking his head the Judge sighed and kept running. "Stupid wars and factions. Why is it such an issue for people to just the hell along with one another?" Riven took his words a bit to heart given she knew he was talking about Demacia and Noxus but at the same time she felt the same as him. Before long the two were almost at the Institute's back entrance.

A smile came across the pairs faces but were soon turned into looks of despair. They were greeted with two sinister grins accommodated with large weapons. "Fuck we almost made it," Elias murmurs to himself. Both parties stared intensely at each other before Darius step forward. "So you've gotten your powers now eh? Too bad they didn't help you out any boy," he said with a scowl on his face. The Judge stared at the giant of a man who towered over him so easily and was slightly trembling. "Bro, he isn't on the list of people to kill," Draven said with a palm on Darius's shoulder. The elder shrugged off his brothers hand before raising his axe to the air. "This is the end. For both of you." At the end of his words Elias and Riven knew that their ends would be brought upon them... or so they thought. Just as Darius began to swing his axe downward a familiar voice came from out of nowhere.

"DEMACIA!" yelled the voice. The fierce battle cry was met with a large prisma of colors was sent towards the Hand of Noxus. He quickly evaded the attack as well as his brother. Elias had looked over to see if it who he though it was; and he was right. Lux stood there with Garen, Jarvan, Shyvana, and Teemo who was perched up on Garen's shoulder. "I brought reinforcements!" saluted the tiny yordle. A small, quiet chuckle came out of Elias's mouth but it seemed off from his usual self. Riven heard his quiet laugh and she immediately recognized what he was laughing at, and it wasn't a good thing. Before she could say anything an axe came whirling past her face. Another mini-war has just been started.

Once the second of Draven's axes had flown, Jarvan had thrown a flag at him and used his spear to launch himself towards Draven. Darius snarled and raised his axe again to strike Elias and Riven but Garen leaped forward and blocked the axe with his massive sword. The Noxian growled and tried to pull the sword away from Garen but he held a firm grasp on his sword. While Garen was dealing with Darius, Jarvan was having a difficult time dealing with Draven. Since he didn't wear as much armor as the Prince, the Executioner could move more freely compared to him; and could not be as easily exhausted. Draven started to hurl his axes at the Prince but he deflected with with his lance.

The Executioner chuckled lightly before swinging both of his axes forward with extreme precision and speed. Jarvan quickly dashed towards the blades and blocked them with his sturdy lance. He tried to hold his ground against the axes but the raw speed and power behind them caused the Prince to become quickly exhausted. Before he could give way to the blades Jarvan yelled furiously before swinging his lance, and the axes away from himself and the others. Once the blades were out of the way Jarvan collapsed to the ground heaving heavily. "Is that all you've got?" he barked at Draven. Victorious laughter was all that the Prince got as a reply. As quickly as he could muster, Jarvan spun around to see that the blades he deflected earlier were heading towards Lux, Shyvana, Elias, and Riven.

"No... I must sa-" Jarvan said before collapsing. Garen who had rendered Darius unconscious with his ultimate he saw two deadly axes heading towards the remaining group. "Get out of there!" he shouted. Lux quickly shot up and saw the axes flying towards them. She swiftly used her Light Binding to catch one of the axes but the other whizzed past her spell. The stray axe was headed towards Elias, and no one could stop it in time. The Demacian's cried out his name for him to dodge but it was too late. A sickening _thwip _sound was made as steel had rammed itself into the Judge's chest. A tiny gurgle was all that was heard in the fray, before it was greeted with the loud thud of his body hit the ground.


	6. Chapter 6: Dead Man Walking

Chapter 6: Dead Man Walking

The sound of a body hitting the ground had never seemed so terrifying before. Elias's thoughts were terrifying him as well. The second the blade had made its way into his chest the poor soul became tormented by the thoughts of death. Is there an afterlife? Why did this happen to him? Would he die here alone in a world he only thought was fantasy? All of these questions consumed him with fear and doubt. _"Are you alright?"_ a small gentle voice says. In the darkness of his psyche, a bright warm hand reached itself out and held onto Elias's hand.

Garen had to keep Lux from sobbing over Elias's body. Several onlookers had arrived at the scene when Lux's shrill scream was heard. Most of the people who arrived were supports who quickly began trying to heal Elias and the unconcious Jarvan. To no avail however, the supports couldn't heal Elias's body for it had gone cold and was devoid of all life; nothing seemed to heal him at all. "I-if I had only trapped the second axe he would still be..." the blonde sobbed. Garen held her tightly to him and she let out her anguish. Even though the newcomer had only been with the Demacian's for a short while, it seemed like he had been their ally for decades. Shyvana was having her own troubles of guarding and unconscious Jarvan from any further attacks that might happen, but the two Noxian's from earlier were called into a match for the League.

Riven was propped against a small rock while Teemo used his basic first aid knowledge to bind her broken ankle in a splint while Soraka applied a specialized paste to it to stop the pain. The Exile gazed over at the person who saved her. He seemed to be as old and as strong willed as her, but to die at that age seemed to cruel, even by Noxian standards. All that was heard were the sobs of Lux mourning at the loss and the low growling of Shyvana protecting her Prince. The white haired Noxian felt bad for them. She felt as if it was her fault that he ended up dead, and it was consequentially. Riven's eyes started to cloud up with tears and broke into her own silent sob.

All of the sobbing quickly stopped when they heard a soft groan of pain. The sound came again but this time it sounded like it was a faint cry of help but there was no one around that could make such a sound. Looking down at Elias's body they see that one of his arms is trying to pull the blade from his chest. "Help... me," he quietly groaned. Garen quickly rushed over to his side and inspected the wound. "We can't take it out Elias. You've already lost too much blood," the soldier tells him. A tall man bearing sky blue eyes and dressed in armor covered in dazzling gems arrived next to the Demacian. "He is right dear child, you've lost too much blood and you shouldn't be moving," Taric says in his calming monotone voice.

The Gem Knight's voice soothed Elias's muscles and made all forms of resisting futile. The Judge's hand slowly moves away from Draven's axe that was still impaled in his chest. Soraka soon came to Elias's side and assisted Taric in removing the blade. "He's lost too much blood to even be alive," Soraka whispered to Taric. "I know what you mean. A normal human with no magical powers or a physique like Garen's shouldn't still be alive. This is a strange case indeed."Soraka started to chant a healing spell and Taric's gems started to glow a cerulean blue. Elias's wound started to close up slightly and blood began to pour back into his body. The Judge suddenly sat up breathing heavily with sweat running down his face. Startled, the healer duo jumped back at the Judge's sudden movement. What startled them more was that the blade that was embedded in his chest was now shriveling to dust. They looked at each other wearily as to what was going on but couldn't make any sense of what was happening.

"God my chest feels like I got hit with a giant axe," Elias mumbles to himself. He looks around to see shocked faces of the people surrounding him. "What? Did I say something I shouldn't have?" he asks the group. Taric looks over at Garen who looks as confused as everyone. "You... don't remember?" The Demacian asks to the Judge. Elias's face became devoid of color as he made a small "oh" face. "I was stabbed by a giant axe... wasn't I?" he asks Garen. He nods and keeps his gaze fixated on Elias. The Judge is still confused as to why everyone was staring at him. Lux however didn't seem to care and quickly rushed to hug him.

"We thought you were dead!" the blonde cries as she squeezes him tighter. Shocked at her sudden embrace he awkwardly wraps his arms around her. Tears of joy start to fall down the Lady of Luminosity's cheek as she hugs Elias even tighter. "Um Lux? Isn't there someone else you should be hugging instead?" the Judge coughs uncomfortably. She quickly turns around and goes to hug Riven. "I thought you were a goner too!" she cries again. Riven chuckles lightly and ruffles Lux's crop of blonde hair. "I'm fine now thanks to him," the Exile says while pointing to Elias. He smiles slightly at her before coughing up a bit of blood. Soraka moves to assist the Judge but he holds a hand up to stop her. "I'm fine. Just what's left of what was in my throat. Thank you for helping me, Soraka, Taric," he said nodding to each of them.

Garen kneels at Elias's side and lifts his arm over his neck to lift him up. "Thanks big guy," Elias laughs slightly. The Demacian lightly chuckles and carries him inside of the Institute. The rest of the champions soon followed after them.

* * *

Hours after the incident had past, Elias and the others were back to tip-top shape. Now that he was fully healed, the Judge was dressed back in his normal attire of a hoodie and jeans. He walked towards the balcony of his newly appointed room and stared into the vastness of the land. _What am I doing here. I should be worried about getting back but... at the same time I want to stay here. _His thoughts were interrupted by a small knock at the door. "Who is it?" he called. The door slowly creaked open and a woman with long blue hair floated in the room. In her hands was a golden etwahl which she held gingerly in her hands. "Oh hello Sona," he greets her with a smile.

She returns the greeting with her own smile which seemed to flood the room with a calming sensation. He walked over to her and sat on his bed, motioning her to sit next to him. "So what is it?" he asks her kindly. She holds up a finger before lying her etwahl onto her lap. Sona slowly began strumming a wondrous melody that filled Elias's ears. _"Can you hear me Elias?", _says a voice in his head. He looks over at Sona who nods at him, _"Yes it is me speaking if that's what you're wondering."_ The Judge sighs in relief and leans back onto the bed.

"So what brings you to my room Sona?" She keeps on strumming her etwahl and turns towards him, _"I am here to assist you with any remaining injuries you might have." _He chuckles and shakes his head. "I'm fine Sona, you guys patched me up pretty good," he says cheerfully. The blue haired maven cocks her head slightly in concern and stares at him. _"I wasn't talking physical wounds Elias. I was talking about the deep psychological wounds you have,"_ she says in her calming tone. Elias chuckled nervously and lied back on the bed, propping his hands underneath his head. "I don't really want to talk about that Sona," he whispers. She frowned slightly and stopped playing her instrument.

_"You can talk to me about what it is. I wont tell anyone I promise,"_ she says almost hurt by his words. The two champions sat there in silence for a short while. Sona was about to exit the room before she heard him crying softly. "I'm scared Sona. I am so frightened by being here. I didn't think this world would actually exist, and I didn't think it would be this terrifying. I thought if I could pull off my 'tough guy' act then things would be ok for me. Obviously that's not the case." Tears were now falling from his face at an immense rate. The maven had never felt as bad for anyone or anything as much as him. The Judge of the Fallen, reduced to a boy who was sobbing and terrified of the world around him.

Elias's sobbing ceased after a while. He slowly sat up and wiped away his tears with his hoodie's sleeve. Sniffling he looked over at Sona who kept her warm smile across her face, "Thank you Sona... for not, you know, making fun of me for crying." The blue haired woman shook her head slightly and moved closer to him. The Judge looked at her with his puffy red eyes and smiled slightly at her. She smiled again at him before embracing him in a comforting hug. He had no reason to resist her and hugged her back gingerly. _"It's alright to be afraid Elias. Everyone is deep down, even if they never show it, everyone is afraid of something," _Sona speaks softly while stroking his hair.

The Judge backed off from the embrace and felt much better now. Sona looked at the clock and saw that it was a quarter past ten. _"Ah I must be heading back now. If you ever need help, come find me at the Support quarters alright?"_ Elias nodded and stood up before bowing to her. "I cannot thank you enough Sona. Without you, I'd probably have kept that in longer than what I should have." She made what seemed to be a giggling face before standing, well floating up and doing a small maven left the room, leading to Elias to lie back down on the bed. Just as he had lied down another visitor walked in. "Hey uh, your name is Elias right?" the new visitor said.

He looked towards the door to see a woman with white hair and covered in slivers of armor standing in the doorway. "Oh Riven, didn't expect you to drop by. Come in, come in," Elias motioned her. She quickly entered the room and closed the door behind her. The Exile was fidgeting with her armor and had her sword hanging at her belt. "Something wrong?" he asks her while he sits up. Riven keeps on fidgeting before saying, "I need to stay at your place tonight." "Wait what? Why?" he asks her. The white haired woman's face began to redden and she started to fidget more. Sighing, Elias slid off the bed and propped himself up on the couch in the corner of the room.

"I wont ask why if it's bugging you that much. Take the bed and I'll just crash on the couch for tonight," he tells her. She tried to object to him sleeping on the couch and her on the bed but she thought best to not say anything else. Elias curled up into a ball on the couch and shut his eyes. Riven collapsed onto the bed and set her sword on the nightstand next to her and pulled the covers over herself. "Night Riv. Hope you sleep well." "Goodnight Elias. Don't try anything funny while I sleep," she shoots back at him. Elias chuckles and stretches before falling into a deep slumber.


	7. Chapter 7: First Match

_Hey guys I'm not dead :D! Sorry about not posting for weeks. I got pelted with chemistry labs and essays galore. I also got sick during that time and sadly I got distracted with other things got in the way of me writing. _This is one of those reallllllllly long chapters (its something like 4000+ ____words) guys due to this being the first lengthy fighting scenario. _Well I present chapter 7 of my fanfic!_

* * *

Chapter 7: First Match

Elias had woken up with the most insufferable headache. Not only was his head searing in pain from rolling off the couch, but he was also now a gash etched across his arm which had been cut against Riven's sword. "Oww," he quietly whimpered in pain. He quickly tried to see what had cut him to see that it was the sword of the woman who he was pretty sure had it next to her. The sound of him hitting the ground must have been loud enough to have a startled Riven running from his bathroom. "What happened?!"

"I rolled off the couch and landed on my head," he bluntly replies. She walks over to him and helps him sit up back on the couch. Once he was seated on the couch, Elias had noticed that Riven was in nothing but a bath towel and was looming over him. A red flush began to envelop his cheeks before he said, "Thanks Riv..." in a small voice. At first the Exile didn't know what he was blushing at until she remembered what she was wearing. Now Riven's cheeks too were a bright shade of red. Both member's hearts started to beat at an extreme rate as they stared into each other's eyes.

The Judge quickly looked down embarrassed and shook his head, "I'm sorry I didn't know you were... you know...". He waited for the half naked female to pummel him with her sword and kill him but all she did was run back to the bathroom and slowly closed the door behind her. "That was way too close," he sighed to himself. _However... her blushing like that looked really cute._ Elias shook his head again and banged it against the arm of the couch, "I can't believe I just said that. I barely even know her and... there's Alice too, I can't abandon her just because I'm in another world." Those last words hit him where it hurts.

Was there a way to get home? He didn't want to abandon his new friends but at the same time he wanted to go home and set things right with Alice and other people as well. His train of thought was derailed when a now fully clothed Riven walked into the room and sat next to him. She looked at him with a small hint of red on her cheeks remaining. "Earlier uh... lets keep that between us?" Elias says quietly. The Exile nods silently and picks up her weapon.

"Don't you have a match today?" Riven asks him while clipping her sword to her side. The Judge cocks his head confused and looks at her. "No one told me about a match today," he replied. Her face soon switched to one that was as confused as his. "No one told you? I swear these summoners..." she muttered to herself. They both sat there quietly thinking when a constant _drip_ sound was heard.

"Do you hear that?" Elias asks

Riven nods, "Yeah it sounds like water dropping... but I'm sure I turned off the shower earlier."

"Double check it perhaps?" suggests the Judge.

The white-haired woman nodded and went to check the faucet in the bathroom. After a few minutes she returned shaking her head. "There's nothi- Oh gods what happened to your arm!" she exclaims while pointing to his arm. Elias looks over at his arm to see it's now drenched in a thick red liquid. "Oh. That. I forgot about me slicing my arm on your sword," he says nonchalantly. _Wait how the hell did I forget I got cut by her blade? Good job writer for forgetting that tidbit of info. Dumbass._

Riven quickly ran back to the bathroom and came out with a first aid kit. "I'll patch it up just give me a second," she says while opening the kit up. He knew the Exile was skilled in combat, but he didn't expect her to be this well educated in first aid. Elias took note of her carefully wiping away the blood and gently applying some form of peroxide on it before cleaning the wound up with what smelled like alcohol pads. It stung at first as alcohol does on open wounds but afterwards a soothing warmth came across the gash in the Judge's arm. Finally she began wrapping it up with some gauze and made sure it was securely wrapped on his arm.

"There... That should do it," she exclaims sounding triumphant. Elias lets a small chuckle slip from his mouth before ruffling her hair. Just as he realized what he'd done another wave of crimson washed over his face. "S-sorry," he stuttered. Riven didn't know whether to be puzzled at him ruffling her hair or to see that his own hair had changed colors. "It's alright but, wasn't your hair black yesterday?" _Wait what? My hair changed colors?_

Elias quickly ran over to the mirror and inspected his hair. Sure enough the color had faded to an silvery grey color, with small streaks of crimson running down to the tips. He sighs and messes with his hair trying to see if it was any different, but all he could find was the color had changed and not the style of it. "Well at least that didn't change," he grumbled to himself. Elias then walked out from the bathroom and saw that Riven was staring at him intensely. "What is it now?" he asked.

She shook her head and stood up with her sword now clipped at her side. "You're so weird. You came from another world and yet you're accepting this one without being confused or frightened," she replies with her head cocked to the side. Elias softly chuckles and sits down on the bed. "I honestly am scared of being here. Now that I realize that this world really exists, that means all the horrors that are lurking here exist as well. Some of the things I've read about Runeterra... they'd make a good horror story if told by the actual people." The white haired woman stares at him more before sighing and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Well if it's any consolation I feel kind of the same way as you. After defecting from Noxus... I've had a tough time living. Between Swain sending assassins to kill me, and being an exile, I feel scared and alone because I don't know what's out there lurking in the shadows." Elias gets the point of what she's saying and softly smiles. "Looks like I've made a new friend through a mutual feeling," he says while playfully punching her shoulder. She softly giggles and brushes her white hair behind her ear. _That was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. Wait she is one of the cutest things I've ever seen,_ Elias thinks to himself. While thinking about how cute she was, a small blush crept itself up on his face.

Riven had noticed that he was blushing and nudged him playfully. "Hey remember you have that match today remember?" she reminded him. His face faded back to it's normal color and he cleared his throat. "So who is it I'm facing and who am I with?" he asks her still thinking about how cute she was. The Exile looks at him and flashes a warm smile, "Well as for who you're with it's Lux, Ezreal, Nasus, You, and my lovely self. As for who we're against..." She became uneasy when she had to tell him who they were up against. "We're up against Thresh, Hecarim, Karthus, Elise, and Mordekaiser." When she uttered the name 'Mordekaiser' she shivered out of fear.

"Great... Shadow Isle champions. Just what I needed for my first match." Elias grumbled to himself. Riven sighed and grasped his shoulders and shook him lightly. "It'll be fine Elias. I promise on... well what's left on my honor that you will make it through the same way you went in okay?" He smiled slightly at what she had said and nodded, "Alright then. I'll take you up on your word Riv." With that the two nodded in agreement before bounding out the door.

* * *

_In the meeting room..._

"So... uh, Good to see you guys," Elias perked up. Before Elias and Riven stepped into the room it was full of chatter. But when they both walked in the room it fell into silence. Lee Sin was sitting crisscross and meditating while Lux and Ezreal sat at the table in the center of the room. Elias had smiled awkwardly at Riven and she did the same while avoiding his eyes. Lux gigged at the two's interaction and nudged The Exile. "Sooo I heard that you were in Elias's room last night Rivy. You two do anything naughty?" Lux teased. Riven sighed and rubbed her temples at the blonde woman's words, "No we didn't do anything that your perverted mind thought we did. All that happened was I walked into his room, told him I needed a place to stay, he passed out on the couch, then I passed out on the bed."

The luminescent girl frowned as if her hopes and dreams were shattered by what really happened. Lux was about to open her mouth again before Ezreal put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on Lux give them a break. We don't want them to be sidetracked during the fight." He says sternly. She frowned even more and placed a hand on her hip before getting in Ezreal's face. "Well excuse me for wanting to know what my best friend was doing with a boy in a room all alone." Riven had stepped in to defend Ezreal before the three of them were in a heated argument. Elias sighed at the three champions bickering over what really happened in his room so he walked over to Lee Sin and sat next to him.

"So how's your day going Lee?" Elias asks the monk. The monk remains silent as he meditates more on... well whatever he was meditating on. The Judge studied him as he meditated in peace, taking note as the monk's breathing and pulse were but a whisper. Then something caught Elias's eye. While studying Lee, he noticed a faint glow emanating from the monk's chest. The silvery haired champion began to focus more on the glowing before a small flame became visible to him, but instead of it being the shape of normal flame it was in the shape a small tiger. He watched in wonder as it pranced gleefully out of Lee Sin's chest and ran around him.

The Judge began to start laughing when it rolled around like a puppy in the field. The champions ceased their fighting when they saw Elias lying on the ground and heard him cackling loudly. "Elias you okay?" Ezreal asks concerned. The Judge shakes his head and points towards Lee sin laughing even harder now, "The little tiger is rolling around like a puppy! This is too funny!" All of the champions looked towards him seriously with looks of concern on their faces. "Elias... there is no mini tiger rolling around in here." says a now serious Ezreal. "Wha-what do you mean there is none? It's sitting on Lee's shoulder right now," he points towards the blind monk's shoulder.

The three champions shook their heads in unison before Lee Sin spoke, "This one speaks the truth. You cannot see what is hidden, but he can see it clearly." The monk's words puzzled Ezreal, Lux, and Riven before he sighed softly. "His eyes are special. They let him see the souls of people and creatures... and in my case, my soul would be a tiger." Lee finished. While the other three nodded silently, Elias was now intrigued at his new found ability. The Judge was about to ask him more about seeing souls before a blue light enveloped him and the other champions. "Good luck guys!" Lux exclaims happily. In a bright flash of light the champions were no longer to be seen in the room.

* * *

When the champions landed onto the platform a hint of nostalgia flowed through Elias. He had seen the Rift various times through a lit screen but to see it in person was much more beautiful. The Judge looked around bewildered at the sight of his favorite realm when a voice entered his head. _"Hello Elias? Can you hear me? This is your summoner for the time being. My name is Xero." _the voice says. "Yes I can hear you loud and clear." Elias replies looking around. _"Good good. Now I'm no novice summoner so you should have a good time learning your abilities and such. I'll need full control over your body to ensure the maximum amount of skill you can bring out alright? Also there's a mental connection between you and the other champions for you to call things out." _Elias nods in agreement before his control over his body went to Xero.

He suddenly found himself running towards the shopkeeper and bought a Longsword and three red vials called health potions. _Well at least he knows what he's doing, _Elias thinks to himself. After buying his items the Judge ran down the middle pathway leading from his nexus. _Must be blue side since I'm running up instead of down._

"So what kind of character am I Xero? By the item you got me it seems that I'm some form of physical damage champion." He asks his summoner. _"Yes you are correct. By the way your stats read, it seems as if you're an AD Carry or off tank of sorts." _the summoner replies. Nodding the Judge continues running down his lane before reaching his second turret, and his opponent. Standing, well floating in front of him, was a skeletal being bearing long white hair and was wearing a long red cloak with bits of armor attached to it, on his head was a large mitre that resembled something that the Pope in his world would wear but... less terrifying.

Elias felt something nag at his inner psyche when he laid eyes on the Lich, as if Karthus had done something terrible to him in the past. The Lich paid no attention to the Judge as he kept reading his spellbook and muttering something to himself. Shaking his head the Judge held out his hand and started to concentrate on his weapon materializing in front of him. A small flash of light came from in front of him and his scythe had made its way into Elias's hand. That had caught the attention of the Deathsinger. "I see you wield a weapon of death young one." his ghostly voice echos.

It made the silvery-haired champion shudder when the Lich spoke. Karthus took note at his shuddering and laughed evilly while slamming his book shut, "This should be fun. You reek of death like me, so let us see who is more worthy of death!" Soon after the announcer spoke and minions had begun spawning. Now the fight begins.

The first wave of minions went down as Elias swung his scythe through them and cut them down with ease. After a few minutes he had hit level 5 and Xero had him recall back to the fountain to buy his next item: The Vampiric Scepter. To his surprise the Judge's original scythe was was just a long pole with a curved blade had transformed into a long, single-piece metallic scythe that glowed an ominous yellow. However Elias couldn't dawdle any longer for the Deathsinger was pushing his first tower with a strong determination. To make the distance shortened he decided to use Teleport to move himself directly onto the tower which surprised the Lich causing him to damage Elias under the tower. The tower then switched its targeting to Karthus and began to blast him full of its energy shots, damaging him more and more he stood underneath it.

Right before Karthus was at the edge of his life, the Judge arched his scythe horizontally generating a shockwave from it. It struck the Deathsinger in the chest and cleaved his body in two causing the Lich to dissipate into a ghostly blue mist. "Finally he's gone." mutters Elias. His victory was short lived when he remembered the passive of Karthus: Death Defied. He quickly twirled around to meet the Lich grinning evilly and laughing, "You cannot kill that which is already dead!" Karthus then began to raise his arms into the air as he channeled his ultimate ability laughing even louder now.

"Everyone shield yourself now!" Elias screamed at the top of his mental lungs. The champions heard him just before his Requiem was released. Riven had used her Valor to dash away and shield herself, Lux had shielded herself and Ezreal, but it was too late for the Judge. The massive blast of energy was released and Elias felt a large force of energy explode onto him. He had never felt such pain before in his life as his body felt like it was burned by magma then alcohol was poured onto the wound. Luckily he survived the explosion and soon recalled back to heal himself.

"Fucking hell that hurt." grumbled Elias. He sat in the fountain for a bit as his health and mana slowly regenerated. Another flash of light was seen before Ezreal and Lux appeared before him also wounded but not as badly as himself. They bought a few items and sat next to the silvery haired champion, "Good call out man. You just saved us all from dying." The Judge found himself being pat on the back by the Prodigal Explorer who had a grin plastered on his face. "Well at least you guys got shielded in time. I got hit with the full force of that and man did it hurt like a bitch." A small chuckle came from Ezreal's mouth and he patted the young man's back again. "You'll get used to the pain eventually. Come on, we gotta take our lanes now." And with that the duo who wielded light were racing down back to their lane.

He rested for a few more seconds before running down his own lane to discover that Karthus had been missing. A very terrified "Oh shit." escaped from his mouth as he began to scan around for his lane opponent. "Guys Karthus is missing from mid have you seen him?" a terrified Elias asks to his teammates. That's when he heard Riven's cries for help. She was facing extreme odds facing not only the Master of Metal, but the Deathsinger as well. Elias quickly pushed up his lane slaughtering the minions and soon the tower afterwards before rushing to help Riven.

The Exile had to keep jumping in and out of combat to even damage both of her opponents. Her Broken Wings skill was very useful due to its last usage of knocking up her foes, and her other two skills allowed her to stun and dash away if the enemy got close to her. They helped her survive but barely by the skin of her teeth. Mordekaiser was trampling over her minions with a swing his massive metal mace, while Karthus was constantly casting his Lay Waste towards Riven to keep her at bay from attacking both of them. "Damn if only the others were here I'd be able to push them back." the crimson eyed woman mutters between gritted teeth. She kept cutting down minions as they got close to her but eventually she was pushed back to her first tower.

Trying relentlessly to push them back, the outnumbered champion continued to fight her way through waves of minions and the two champions assaulting her. All hope had seem lost until the Judge had finally arrived to help. He quickly began to twirl his scythe in his hand before swinging it and generating the shockwave once again, killing all of the minions who were assaulting the tower. The two Shadow Isles champions were dumbfounded at what had happened and began retreating towards their own tower. "We can't let them get away." Elias shouts to Riven. She nods and begins focusing her runic power in her sword. It slowly began to mold itself back into it's original full form, the green energy surrounding it to empower it even further. The sword was now complete again and the two champions began chasing after the Shadow Isle pair.

They ran as fast as they could and managed to catch up to the fleeing champions. "We won't make it Elias!" shouts Riven. The Judge grins and shakes his head, "Not while I can do this." Just before the Master of Metal had made it under the tower, Elias teleported closer to him using Flash and swung his his curved weapon into the hollowed out being's back and flinging it behind him. The Judge quickly turned around and fired his Cresent Death at Mordekaiser, damaging him even more. Riven took the opportunity given to her and used her Broken Wings to strike the Shadow Isle champion even more before releasing her Wind Slash, killing him. When the body of the Master of Metal had hit the ground, a sickening crunch sound was made as if a tin can was smashed underneath a large foot.

The two were panting at their engagement and collapsed to the ground beneath them. "Well that was... fun." panted an exhausted Elias spoke. Riven nodded in agreement and wiped the sweat from her brow. He looks over at her and smirks "Let's keep pushing till we win. Then we can take a breather." She chuckles softly and shakes her head, "Ain't no rest for the wicked eh?" With that the two champions stood up and brushed themselves off before dashing towards the enemy towers.

After Riven and Elias had taken down the two remaining top towers, the enemy team could no longer hold them back. All five members of the blue team had taken down the remaining towers of the purple side's and all of the inhibitors as well. A few more skirmishes ensued but they only led to the blue team buying their full builds while the purple team had barely started to build items themselves.

* * *

"VICTORY!" was heard from the announcer moments later as the enemy team's Nexus exploded into a vibrant display of violet. Cheers were heard from the winning team as they were teleported back to the meeting room. Various high-fives and pats on the back were given between the champions before the doors swung open and even more cheers were heard from the swarm of summoners that were awaiting outside.

The five victorious champions walked out and were showered with congratulations and pats on the back. Other champions were there as well: Jax was laughing heartily while he held his lamppost tightly in his hand, Master Yi was applauding along with his pupil Wukong, and for some reason Sejuani was there as well. Elias waved at the surrounding champions as he slowly made his way through the masses of people who swarmed him and his friends.

_Friends? Could I really call them that?_ He quickly shook his head and kept walking until he had made it to the exit. Of course he could call them friends. After he was in the clear, Elias started to walk back to his room when he noticed ghostly footsteps behind him. "Who is it?" said a now standing still Elias. Whoever it was behind him they lightly chuckled and made themselves visible. "I'm surprised you even heard me boy." the figure behind him purred. When he turned he was greeted with a devilish smirk and crimson hair.

"Katarina... What are you doing here?" he angrily replies. Elias had not forgotten that Katarina had tried to kill him when they first met, and that she was a deadly assassin known for killing then vanishing without a trace. She placed her hand on her hip and stared at him with her emerald green eyes, "I'm just here to apologize and be on my murderous, happy way." He scoffed and continued to walk before her hand met his shoulder. "I mean it Elias. I am sorry for almost-" "Killing me?" Elias finished. Never before had he been so angry at someone, even if it was a famous assassin that moves as silently as the night.

The silvery-haired man shrugged off her hand and buried his hands in his pockets. "Just out of the decency I have... apology somewhat accepted. I'm still pissed that you tried to kill me and now you're trying to kiss and make up with me." His words were meant to sting Katarina's mind but it failed miserably. The crimson-haired beauty shook her head softly while chuckling. "Still just a boy..." With her parting words, she vanished into thin air.


	8. Chapter 8: New Threat

_Hey guys. Sorry for not posting for months. You know how school and family life can become hectic. Also this chapter took so damn long to write because of myself being sidetracked and a severe case of writers jenga hit me (writers block (get it) exaggeration) . I will try to update more frequently and during Winter Break and I will try and put out a chapter a day. Also don't forget to review for it pumps me up and makes me write more. Peace and have a good day/night/read._

* * *

Chapter 8: New Threat

After striking the training dummy multiple times with his scythe, Elias finally gave up assaulting the straw figure and "sheathed" his scythe. It wasn't sheathing but more like... putting his scythe into a spacial void where he could store items. "That damn assassin." he said behind gritted teeth. The grey-haired teen was shaking from fear at what he had said to Katarina last night. "Oh god she's probably going to kill me for sure now."

He tried to calm his nerves by practicing a new technique he had thought of since he received his powers. He first coated his hand in his own power and thrust it forward, lancing it into the training dummy's chest, then summoning his scythe and raked it through it's chest. The Judge was breathing heavily trying to calm the terror building inside of him but he could not do so. _Maybe if I talk to Yi or Karma they could help me out..._ Elias went and slumped against the wall before sighing again and stared at his scythe. Ever since his first match, the wickedly curved blade had changed appearance from a simple stick with a long, curved blade, to a long metal shaft with an eerie blue energy creating the rest of the blade.

A small creak and chatter was heard as the door to the training facility opened. Just as it opened the chatter that was being held before was now silenced. "The hell happened here?" grunted a gruff voice. "Looks like a damn tornado came flyin' through here." another voice said but it was more suave and calmed. Elias perked up and stared at the two new champions now in the training facility: the Outlaw Graves, and the Card Master Twisted Fate. The two men noticed Elias propped against the wall and stared at him with disbelief.

"You do this?" Graves asks while propping his shotgun on his shoulder. The Judge wasn't exactly scared of Graves, but his massive shotgun would make anyone uneasy. "Graves I know you aren't as stupid as you look. It's pretty obvious that the kid did it." says Fate in his smooth voice. The man named Twisted Fate stared at Elias with his glowing golden eyes and studied him. The Judge shook his head and held his scythe on his shoulder, "It was me Graves. Why, did I mess up your favorite target or something?"

The Outlaw chuckled and shook his head. "My favorite target is the one that pays a whole bunch. But I gotta say kid, you tore that dummy to smithereens." Then he stifled a small chuckle and scratched his beard. It reminded Elias of one of his family members back in his world: strong, scary looking, bearded, had that thick country accent, even carried a shotgun around with him (him living in the country that is). A soft smile came across his face before it quickly faded into a look of remorse.

"So, mind telling us what the hell happened here?" Graves asks now staring at the teen. The Judge waves his arms around the arena now littered with the straw corpses of the training dummies. "I was trying to regain my nerves because of an... argument last night." he replied to the two older champions. Graves stared at him with his signature grin and Fate also did the same; it was as if they were thinking about the same thing. "It's a woman isn't it?" they both said in unison. Elias stared at the two in disbelief that they figured it out. Well, half-figured it out.

He nodded slowly still keeping his gaze on the two older gentlemen. "It is a girl but..." he trailed off. "Lemme guess, she rejected you or dumped you am I right?" Fate said hastily to finish his sentence. Again the teen shook his head and stared at them, "No it definitely wasn't that. Katarina tried killing me when we first met and she tried to apologize like it never happened. In the heat of the moment I sort of snapped at her and ever since then I've had the overwhelming feeling that she is going to kill me." The two men stared at each other and silently nodded as if they agreed on something.

"Best you stay away from her kid. Ain't nothing ever good come out of dealing with her." Graves said solemnly. Fate gives a nod in agreement and tips his hat over his eyes, "She's a dangerous one alright. Best you stay farther than a ten foot pole you hear?" Elias looks at them slightly confused but nods before exiting the training facility.

When he exited the room he was greeted by a familiar, friendly face. "Oh hey there Elias! Did you come here to train?" Lux asks gleefully and with a smile. The Judge shakes his head and leans against the wall. "No I came here to let off some steam actually." Elias says with a grim look. The blonde looks at him confused and rolls her hand for him to continue. He sighs and rubs the back of his head, "I kinda got into a... heated situation with Katarina yesterday. She tried to apologize for almost killing me but... I may have blown up and said 'No way in Hell' before storming off."

Lux remained silent after he finished talking which made Elias uneasy. Normally she'd say something like "It's a good thing you didn't get killed" or "I'm glad you said that" but she remained silent. "So that's why she was..." Lux trailed off. Elias looked at her confused and tapped on her shoulder, "Who was like what?" The blonde shuffled her hands nervously and averted his gaze. "Lux... you can tell me alright?" This is where she shook her head and breathed shakily, "I-it was Kat. She came to my room last night and... well she was on the verge of tears but she wouldn't tell me what happened."

The chalk-haired teen looked at her with disbelief. "Wait but I thought the whole Noxus hates Demacia and vice versa thing was still going on." he asks, now thinking of his actions from before. She shook her head and sighed, "That whole conflict ended a while ago when Kat and Garen got married." Her words startled him and caused the teen to inhale sharply, which in turn caused him to cough violently. Lux rushed to his side quickly and held him up as he violently coughed. "Are you okay?" Lux asks in a scared voice.

Elias nods weakly and stares into her eyes, "Yeah that just shocked me a bit. Should be fine in a bi-" His sentence was cut off by the world suddenly going dark. Literally dark was what could be described as what happened to Elias. He was in a dark environment where there was no sound, no scents, and no source of light was to be seen. All the Judge could do was hear the sound of his shaky breath, and his unsteady heartbeat.

"Welcome... To the dark..." Spoke a raspy voice. Elias tried to scan the area around him to see where, or what the voice came from but the darkness made it impossible to see. "Who's there?!" Called out the teen. His answer was an eerie chuckle and the void surrounding him swirling into a form before him. Once the form had was completed, it was a being well known to Elias: Nocturne, The Eternal Nightmare. "Nocturne... what do you want!" Elias coldly spat out to the creature. The nightmare-ish creature chucked darkly again and shook it's head, "I want what I usually want: To torment others for my pure enjoyment."

The red and white haired teen has to admit that he was somewhat scared, but for some reason he was calm, calmer than he should have been when facing the embodiment of a nightmare. "Interesting..." Nocturne slowly spoke. He circled around Elias and studied him, like he was some exotic animal from a far off land; which he sort of was. "You smell of fear but... it is very faint, very quiet, very infuriating." the creature spoke, the last words spewed like venom. "Well it helps knowing that your power isn't at it's peak since you're sealed." Elias retorted. This is where Elias started to become frightened. "Yes I am indeed sealed youngling, but there are others more terrifying than myself running amok Runeterra."What do you mean?" The Judge asked. Nocturne simply shook his head chuckling and began to disappear into the darkness. "You will find out soon enough..."

* * *

_In the infirmary..._

The room was quiet and tense. The only sounds that were heard was the heart monitor that slowly beeped, and the liquids that slowly dripped from the IV bag into the teen's arm. Lux, Riven, and Garen were seated to the right of Elias while Soraka was on the left checking his readings and making sure that he was ok. The Starchild sighed and finished documenting her new patients status before turning to the trio of friends. "He should be alright for now. Most of his vital signs are alright but whatever it was that caused him to black out... it must have been a very powerful to render him like that." Soraka tells the group. A collective sigh of relief came from the trio when they were told the good news.

"So what happened again Lux?" Garen asked his sister again. She replied by groaning and rubbing her temples, "I told you brother: I was telling him about Kat last night, I then told him that you two were married, then he collapsed after coughing violently." The Might of Demacia looked at his younger sister with both surprise and wariness. Before he could speak another word, he was greeted with a flash of red now sitting in his lap. "Gods Kat you scared the hell out of me!" exclaimed Garen. Katarina chuckled softly before placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. The brown-haired soldier blushed slightly at his wife's display of affection but even more so from his sisters giggle. Riven on the other hand wasn't paying attention to the "family reunion" going on by her for she was more focused on the grey-haired teen lying in bed.

Elias's breathing was slow and heavy which made the Exile worry even more about him. _"Why am I so worried about him...? I should be because I'm his friend but... something else is nagging me in the back of my mind."_ She thought to herself. Riven suddenly found herself being shaken by her friend Lux who had on a worried face. "He'll be fine Riv. He survived being killed by Draven, I'm sure he can survive passing out." Lux said to her friend. Riven nodded and smiled slightly at her friends encouraging words before returning her gaze back to the teen.

"Hey." Lux whispered while gesturing with her head for the other two to follow her. Garen and Katarina looked at their sister(sister-in-law for Kat) confused, before silently nodding and following her. Once the trio were outside of the infirmary's door, Lux closed the door and sighed softly. "What is it?" questioned Garen. Katarina nodded in agreement and stood by her husband. The blonde looked at them and took a deep breath, "I'm starting to get worried about Riven."

Kat looked up at Garen who merely shrugged, for he didn't know what his sister was talking about. "What do you mean Lux?" asked Kat. Lux sighed again and propped herself against the wall. "She's seemed really... distant. Ever since Elias showed up and was injured, hell killed even, she seems to be depressed." she replies. Garen placed a hand on Kat's shoulder and she gingerly placed her own on top of it. "I can't think of anything to be honest Lux. Maybe she feel's guilty about letting the kid get hurt when she was nearby and couldn't do anything." the crimson-haired assassin says with a shrug.

"I'd get that but there's something else that's starting to interest me as well." Lux says with a smirk. Katarina had seen that smirk before and felt the tips of her lips form her own. "Oh do tell sissy." she says, her grin getting bigger. The Lady looked around to see if anyone else was near before motioning with her hand to have the pair come closer. "I think she's developing a crush on the kid." whispers Lux. This caused Katarina to snicker and Garen just sighed and leaned on the door. The two started to giggle and whisper about how they cute of a couple Elias and Riven would make before screaming was heard coming from the inside of the door.

Without a moment wasted the trio barged into the room to find Elias with scythe in hand, covered in sweat and a gash across his right eye, and Riven curled up in a corner next to him. "What the hell happened!" yelled Katarina. The Judge ignored them and scanned the room constantly before dispelling his weapon and kneeling in front of a terrified Riven. "It's alright Riven. He's gone." he whispered while gently embracing the trembling Riven, still scanning the room for any hostile threats. "Kid what in the ever-living fuck happened here!" Katarina practically screamed. She was about to pounce on the teen but Garen quickly placed a hand on her shoulder and whispered something into her ear that caused her rage to slowly cool off.

Loud footsteps were now heard coming from the hallway and a panting Soraka and an attentative Akali found themselves in the room. "What happened here?" questioned Soraka between breaths. Katarina motioned to Elias before walking out of the room with Garen on her tail. "Well? Care to explain Mr. Judge of the Fallen?" Akali coldly questioned. After slowly letting go of Riven, the teen stood up and had a look of both fear and anxiety.

"Nocturne has been released, and there is a god running amok Valoran." he replies seriously.


	9. Chapter 9: Killing a God?

_AN: 1. Holy crap guys on the views. I saw that my fic went from something like 1200 to 1600 views in about 2 days when I posted chapter 8, that's just... wow. Wow._

_2\. Some things were pointed out that didn't make sense like why Kat and Garen are married and why the hell were they trying to kill each other at the beginning. Don't worry for all of that will be cleared up in the next couple of chapters._

_3\. My internet kept going out so this would have been posted days ago but I couldn't to save my damn life._

_4\. Love your faces, and here's the next chapter. Also leave a review or PM me on things that I should consider adding to the story, what you like about it, things like that and I'll look over them. Happy Reading!_

* * *

Chapter 9: Killing a God?

"We must report this to the High Summoner immediately." suggested Soraka. The rest of the group nodded in unison except for Riven who was now sitting in a chair while Lux tried to ease her friend's nerves. Elias glanced over at Riven and his face turned into one of concern, fear, and slight anger. "Elias are you alright?" asked Akali who was propped against the wall. The Judge looked over at her and nodded slowly, "Eye hurts like hell but I should be fine in a bit." The ninja responded with a nod and turned back to Soraka. "Who should go tell the High Summoner?" Akali asked Soraka.

"I'll do it." Elias stepped forward. The group looked around to see any objections but found none. Akali nodded at the teen and he started to head towards the Head Summoner's office. The grey and red haired teen kept walking through the halls until he reached Head Summoner Maxis' office. He quickly knocked on the door and awaited a response. The door slowly crept open and Elias was surprised as to who opened the door. "Nasus?" the Judge asks. The Curator of the Sands nods and ushers the teen into the office.

Elias walks into the room while Nasus closes the door behind him. "So what brings you here Judge?" curiously asks the Curator. The teen looks towards the desk in the back of the room and notices the High Summoner is not there. "Looking for Maxis. You wouldn't have seen him around would you?" Elias replies. Nasus nods and points towards a conference room on the left hand side of the room. "Thank you, and I'll need to ask you something. Quietly." says the Judge looking around. The bipedal canine nods slightly and leans forward while the teen whispers something in his ear. Nasus' face shifted into one of curiosity before walking off towards the door, while the teen walks towards the conference room.

Speaking was heard in the inside of the door and a group of cloaked individuals chattering about various things. Maxis was inside rubbing his temples and sorting through various paperwork on the table before noticing the grey-haired teen looking from the outside. He smiled slightly and said something to the other summoners causing them to bow and start filing out of the room. Once they were all out, Elias decided to walk into the room and sit down. "Elias welcome. How's the new champion doing? " Maxis asks with a smile.

"I'm doing well thanks for asking." he quickly replies. The Head Summoner nods while stroking his beard before leaning back into his seat. "I assume this isn't a social call by chance. So tell me what is the matter." Elias looks around for Nasus and waves for him to come in. "I'm afraid I might need a couple of other people to join us Head Summoner." the teen says. "And who might those individuals be?" asks the elder Summoner. The teen quickly rambles off the names of two champions and the Head Summoner nods before summoning them to the room. Two flashes of light appeared in seats next to the Head Summoner that were quickly replaced with figures Elias knew well. The elderly man sitting on the right of Maxis was the Chronokeeper Zilean, and on the left was the falcon-headed Azir, the Emperor of the Sands.

"Head Summoner, why have you called for us?" Azir says while bowing slightly. "This young man has some news for us that requires our attention. Although I don't know why he needed your presence here, I am sure it is for a good reason." he replied. Once everyone was seated, the Judge took a seat at the other end of the table. "I have grave news," Elias says in a serious tone. "Nocturne has been released and he speaks of some god that threatens to destroy all of Valoran, if not Runeterra itself." Everyone's face darkened when he finished speaking and had looks of concern and fear on their faces. "Nocturne's release is grave news indeed. But this talk about a god going to destroy everything seems a bit far-fetched to be honest." Maxis says solemnly. I mean, there are no such things as actual gods in this world," the High Summoner said without a doubt in his mind, "Right?"

A knock was heard at the door before Nasus walked through it and took a seat next to Elias. The Curator nodded at the Judge as a confirmation for what he had asked to seek out. "Nasus glad for you to join us. Perhaps you can clear up this talk of a rogue god wandering throughout Valoran." Maxis says while leaning back into his seat.

The canine librarian shuffled nervously in his seat. "That... isn't exactly true High Summoner." started Nasus. After receiving a puzzling look from the the Head Summoner and Azir, the Curator stood up and revealed a scroll that seemed more ancient than himself. "This is an ancient record from the original library from where Myself, Lord Azir, and my traitorous brother come from. It was originally worn down and impossible to read but I managed to bring it to Zilean who was able to reverse time to fix the scroll to some degree." the Curator starts.

"It was a difficult task restoring that scroll. It almost was impossible given it is almost older than myself. " Zilean spoke to the group. After unrolling the scroll carefully Nasus began to speak. "It describes an ancient godly power that arose who's one purpose was to destroy all life and reign supreme. The record then goes into detail of a hero from another world that manages to seal away the evil god, at the expense of his own life." he finishes. "Ah yes... that wretched being. I remember him now and hoped that he was destroyed forever." scowled Zilean.

The group had never seen the old Chronokeeper so angry before, not even the Head Summoner. "What else is in these writings?" questions Maxis. Nasus' expression darkened as well as his companions. "The 'god' in the writings was described as an ethereal being clad in a blue energy. Also it states that the god could possess even the purest souls and twist them in his corruption." finishes the Curator. The Head Summoner nodded grimly and tried to keep the shock hidden from his face.

"What was this god's name?" asks the summoner. "His name was Kyrius the Destroyer, but given the information... It's safe to say he has chosen a new name for himself but it is unknown at this point what it could be." replies the Curator. "I think I know who it is." spoke up Elias. Everyone in the room looked at him confused except for Nasus. The Judge looked over and was given a nod of approval before taking a deep breath, "I think it is a being named Xerath." Nasus and Azir flinched at the mention of that name but the Zilean and Maxis looked at him puzzled. "Why would Xerath be this god? His ascension indeed put him close to godly status but he did not become a god." spoke Azir.

Elias shrugged. "It is honestly just a hunch to be honest. In my world, the creators of the game wrote lores that pertained to the champions they created and Xerath was one of the only few champions they mentioned to be 'godlike' in his lore." Everyone else in the room looked at the Judge with puzzled looks on their faces. "Excuse me, but did you say the creators of the game? What game are you speaking of?" asked Maxis. The teen sighed before explaining how in his world, the League was nothing more than a video game, a fantasy realm, in his world.

All of them but Nasus looked stunned at the information that was told to them, even more so than the news of Xerath and Nocturne. "That would explain why he hasn't had a nervous breakdown at the sight of us." mused Zilean. Azir nodded in agreement before he stood. "I am sorry but I must cut my time here short. There are other duties I must attend to." the falcon-headed champion said. Everyone but Elias stated they had to do something as well. Maxis said farewell to the Emperor as he dissolved into sand, then to Zilean who flashed away leaving a grandfather clock symbol lingering in the air, then Nasus waved goodbye before exiting the door to the conference room.

The Judge let a sigh of relief slip from his mouth as he slumped further into the chair. The elder summoner chucked lightly before standing up himself. "You had better get some rest boy. It looks like you haven't sleep in days." he said in a calming tone. Elias chuckled to himself as he slowly lifted himself out of the chair. Bags had formed under his eyes and his eyes were turning bloodshot. "I'll take you up on your offer Head Summoner." he replied while yawning. The two said farewell to each other and went their separate ways.

"So damn tired." complained Elias. He was walking along the Institute's walls as a support but his legs were turning to jelly rapidly, his eyesight was also beginning to narrow as well from trying force his eyes to stay open. Elias kept on walking against the wall until his legs gave way and he began to fall forward. Instead of hitting the ground he instead found himself leaning against a shoulder and had arms wrapped around him. He tried to look up at whoever had saved him from the fall but exhaustion took hold of him, and he drifted off to sleep.

Janna was surprised to see the new champion up and about given how tired he appeared. She was even more surprised to see him collapse. Her initial reaction was of course to catch him but something... intrigued her about him ever since his first match. He stumbled into her arms muttering something then went to snoring softly into her shoulder. The Storm's Fury giggled lightly at the sight of the exhausted champion looking like a child but then something dawned on her: his body had a faint life aura surrounding it. This caused her to panic and look around frantically for someone to help her.

She then spotted Soraka talking with Sona and Taric and called to them. "I need help! His life aura is very faint!" she cried out to them. The supports quickly ran towards her and lied Elias down on the ground. Soraka started chanting a healing spell while Taric took out a gem that began to glow a faint seaweed-green color. "This isn't good. His life aura is almost non-existent." Taric quickly said while pulling out another crystal. Sona floated next to the others and plucked at her etwahl causing a soothing energy to surround Elias's body.

They were healing him for what seemed like hours but nothing they did seemed to work. "I-I don't get it. The three of us together healing him could heal entire armies in an instant." Soraka said in disbelief. Taric had a grim look on his face and Sona looked like she was going to faint from exhaustion. Janna looked terrified as she had never let someone outside of League matches die before on her watch. Then a sound that seemed to shock all of them came from Elias. He was snoring peacefully and had a look of contempt on his face as he slept.

"What the... This doesn't make any sense at all!" exclaimed Janna. The other supports were too stunned to say anything. Soraka looked over at Taric and Sona as if to confirm what they were seeing and they both nodded at her. "We must take him to the infirmary. Sona, Janna, I need your guy's help to transfer him over there. Taric, I'll need you to tell the Head Summoner about this incident." Soraka said seriously. They all nodded in agreement and quickly began moving Elias towards the infirmary while Taric rushed off towards Maxis' office.

Once Elias was transported to the infirmary, Soraka and Akali began various testing on his body to see why his life aura was so dim. After a few hours Akali held the reports shakily in her hands. The Fist of Shadow began pacing around the room thinking of what the reports told her. "Th-this doesn't make any sense. It says he is perfectly healthy yet..."

"His life aura is weaker than that of an unborn child's." finished Soraka. The report had baffled the two to the point where they might go insane. A knock at the door was heard and their attention diverted over to it. "Come in Shen." Akali quickly said. Sliding open the door, Shen walked in with his doctors uniform on and looked at Elias with his stoic expression. "This is the one with a faint aura correct?" he asked his subordinate. She nodded in response and looked over at the teen.

Shen then walked over and sat in the seat next to Elias's bed, silently studying him. After a few minutes, the Eyes of Twilight stood up and sighed warily. "This boy is indeed... dead by most standards. But as we can see here, he couldn't be more alive." stated Shen. While the others looked at Elias with disbelief on their faces, he slept peacefully in the bed. "Should we let him rest longer?. We can't wait till later to ask him if he knows anything about this." suggests Akali. Soraka and Sona looked at her and shook their heads in unison. "No we must let him rest. After last nights ordeal with Nocturne terrorizing him and Riven, rest is something he desperately needs." says the Starchild.

The ninja was about to protest but her leaders hand shot up, effectively silencing her. "I will be here first thing in the morning to check on him. In the mean time, someone should keep watch on him just in case Nocturne decides to attack him again." the Fists Shadow tells the group. Shen and Janna's hand went up and the ninja stared at both of them before nodding. Soraka, Sona, and Akali said their goodbyes and exited the room leaving Shen and Janna alone with Elias.

"Are you sure about keeping watch? I am more than enough to deal with Nocturne should he arrive." Shen asked her. Janna shook her head and drifted off towards another seat in the room. "I found him like this so I should take care in watching him till he wakes up." she sincerely said. The Eyes of Twilight nodded at her response and leaned up against the wall, arms crossed and attention directed solely at the teen.

* * *

_A few hours later..._

Elias' eyes slowly fluttered open as rays of sunlight bounced off of his face. He groggily sat up and yawned loudly before looking at his surroundings. "Damn I must have passed out." he cursed to himself. The Judge looked around at the room and saw the Janna was asleep in the chair across from him and Shen was standing to his side, his ever piercing gaze present. "Uh... hi?" Elias said confused. "You're awake. Good." Shen responded. The teen slid out from under the covers and dangled his legs over the edge while he stretched out his limbs. "How long was I out?" he casually asked Shen.

The Eyes of Twilight seemed to take interest in his question and walked over to the teen holding out a glass of water. "You've been out for sixteen hours." Shen replied. Elias took a sip of the water and leaned back onto the bed. "Sixteen huh..." the Judge said quietly while sipping his water again. "You seem disappointed at this." Shen asked curiously. The grey-haired teen chuckled lightly and shook his head, "No not disappointed per se. Just...amused. I haven't slept that much in years." The ninja nodded slightly before heading towards the door. "I have other things to attend to so I must be going." bowed Shen. Elias waved goodbye and the ninja vanished from sight.

A few minutes after Shen had left, a knock at the door was heard which startled Janna from her slumber. She looked over at Elias and smiled warmly at him, then she directed her attention towards the door. Janna then left her seat and hovered towards the door and opened it, revealing Riven, Lux, Garen and Katarina on the other side. The group walked into the room and was greeted by a grinning Elias. "I see the welcome party has arrived." he cheekily said. The teen was greeted by a group hug by the other champions who quickly let go of him because he couldn't breathe.

"Gods you scared the hell out of us!" scolded Lux who was still holding onto him. Elias sheepily grinned and rubbed the back of his head but was suddenly socked in the jaw by an angry assassin. "Sorry. Just had to get some pent up resentment out." she said nonchalantly. The group stared at her in shock, then back to the teen who was rubbing his jaw. "Jeez and I was about to apologize for being a dick earlier this week. Guess I don't have to now." the Judge said while still rubbing his jaw. While Janna went over to heal his jaw, Katarina huffed and turned back to Garen who still had his jaw wide open. She shrugged at her husband and walked out of the room leaving everyone still shocked at her actions.

"So... Garen. Mind telling me how the hell that happened?" asked Elias. The soldier shot a puzzling glance at him before realizing what he meant. "Ah yes. Our marriage..." he started. Lux let go of Elias but for some reason Riven did not let go of his arm, in which he just let her stay attached to him. "We got married a couple of years ago actually. It was originally going to be a permanent treaty for Noxus and Demacia but..." "That ended up being an extra advantage of you two actually falling in love right?" finished the Judge. The Might of Demacia nodded with eyes that seemed to reflect his earliest feelings of love for his wife. The grey-haired teen chuckled to himself and leaned against the bed.

The group sat there in silence for a moment, then Elias spoke again. "Wait so what the hell was the small war going on when you first met me?" questioned the teen. Garen laughed heartily and Lux giggled at his words. "That was nothing more than a war game. We decided since we couldn't wage a wars any longer with the treaty in place, both city-states decided to have an annual war game where both sides were put up against each other in a mock war to vent out any lingering frustration." answered Garen. "Ever since the marriage of Katarina and Garen, Noxians and Demcians no longer hate each other so the war games are held as a festival of sorts to bring the two together." added his younger sister.

"That would make a lot of sense; to me anyway. Now there's something something completely off topic I'd like to ask you all." Elias says to the group. They all look at him before he took a deep breath and looked at his comrades. "There wouldn't happen to be anyone here that could help me figure out the extent of my powers would there? I have a feeling that myself not being able to die and being able to summon a scythe from nowhere is just a portion of the powers I have." he asks. Lux looks over at her brother, then to Janna who both shrugged as their answer. "I have someone that knows someone that could help but their methods are... a bit unique." Lux tells sighs and nods at her. "As long as he doesn't try to kill me on purpose, I think I can manage." the Judge says with a smile.

The group sat there for a couple of hours explaining what had happened during the two days he was in the infirmary. Lux and Garen were pitted against each other in a mid lane one game which didn't end well for the younger sibling, Katarina was given the role of jungler by her summoner which caused her to lash out at him after the match, and Riven had been granted time away from League matches due to Nocturne attacking her nights ago. Soon nightfall had occured and the group decided to take this as goodbye. "Speaking of Riven, is she o-" Elias started. When he looked down at her, he saw that she had fallen asleep against him and was still clutching his arm. He chuckled softly to himself before ruffling her white hair gently, a mistake he couldn't believe he made. Elias had done the same thing to his girlfriend Alice back in his world when she would fall asleep curled against him. The thought brought back sour memories but he tried to flush them out of his mind.

When he looked up he saw a giggling Lux and a face-palmed Garen. Elias shot the two a terrifying look before waving them away. "I'll get her back to her room. Where is it anyway?" the teen asked them. The Lady of Luminosity was shaken from her giggling when he asked that question. "She... doesn't have a room actually. I usually let her stay with me but she doesn't sleep at all for some reason." answered Lux with her head hanging low. He nodded in response and picked up Riven bridal-style. "I'll just let her stay with me again I guess. She did the other time so I don't see what the issue with her doing it again would be."

"Alright but no funny business alright?" the blonde lady poked a finger at him. "Nothing happened the last time so your friend is in good hands. See ya" Elias replies. The Crownguard siblings said goodbye as well and both parties went their separate ways. The Judge shortly arrived at him room and slowly let Riven down against the wall so that he could open it up. After the door was opened wide enough, Elias picked up the white-haired woman up again and walked inside, then closing the door behind him. "What an exhausting day." sighed the teen. He walked over to his bed and laid Riven down on it first, then he plopped down onto it as well. "If I'm on the edge it shouldn't bother her that much..." Elias said quietly before drifting off into a deep sleep.


	10. Chapter 10: Welcome to the Family

Chapter 10: Welcome to the Family

One month has passed since the Nocturne incident. Elias and the rest of the group spent that time playing regular League matches and spending time together to learn more about Elias and where he came from and vice-versa. He also spent this time with Ezreal learning about his powers and how to possibly control them. Then Snowdown came and the livelihood of all the champions became a bundle of cheer and joy. But even with all of the festivities going on, Elias slowly began to feel homesick when things started to show up that reminded him of his world.

It first started when he saw the large tree in the main hall of the Institute. It reminded him of the one that the local hospital would place on its roof every year for Christmas throughout the new year. Then he visited the food courts which smelled just like the ones back home. As the days went by, he slowly became more and more upset and saddened. Lux and Garen noticed how down he appeared so they decided to take him to Demacia for the New Years Festival in hopes of cheering him up. It didn't go as planned however.

When the trio arrived in Demacia it was in state of panic. A giant snowstorm had come through earlier in the week and had buried most of the town in snow, and just to make things worse Shyvana went and melted the fire in her dragon form but she ended up burning down some of the households in the process. To make things even more worse, most of the decorations and the clock they used for the countdown till the new year was broken and wouldn't be repaired quick enough to be used. Elias' mood worsened even more at the news and told the two Crownguards that he would spend the new year at the Institute and whatever champions were left. They agreed to him leaving but on the terms that he would contact them once he got back to the Institute. That never happened though.

Once the teen got back to the Institute he locked himself in his room and hid himself from the outside world; only leaving his room once a day. No one knew what he was doing in his room or when he goes out and even fewer could actually talk to him. Janna tried to talk to him but all she got were mumbled replies. Soraka attempted to talk to him, to only be asked politely to leave him alone. What shocked the Starchild the most was that he looked perfectly healthy, well rested, and seemed to be eating right but he did not leave his room at all. Another strange thing was that he had curtained off a portion of his room and ignored all questions about what was behind it.

Concerned champions like the supports helped Janna and Soraka seek out those who were closer to him but found that Riven was visiting Ionia for the new year, the Crownguards and Jarvan were busy helping with the festival in Demacia, and Ezreal was forced to help Caitlyn and Vi catch some criminal with blue braids and tattoos all over her body. A few days passed before Lux and Garen received word about their friend's state of mind. They quickly finished up helping in Demacia before heading back to the Institute of War.

"We came as soon as we could." told Lux to Soraka. She nodded and shook her hand gratefully, "Thank you for coming. The supports and I have been trying to contact anyone close to him and you were the ones who managed to come the quickest." The siblings looked at each other with frightened look before turning back to Soraka. "So what's his current state?" asked Garen. The Starchild shook her head and looked down. "He still hasn't come out of his room and any attempts to see why have been futile." she responded in a downcast tone. Lux frowned at the news and asked Soraka to bring them to Elias' room.

When the trio of champions arrived at his room the door was slightly ajar and a faint ray of light shown through it. Lux pressed a finger against her lips and pulled out her baton. Garen followed her sister's movement and unsheathed his sword as quietly as he could. The younger sibling pushed on the door lightly and it opened with an audible _creak _following. When there was enough room, the blonde peeked her head inside the room and was shocked at the sight she saw.

Elias was seated in a chair against the wall and was staring at a small figure covered up on the small couch that occupied his room. His face had a look of intense worry and pure concentration on it, and what was even more shocking was the fact that his hair had turned from a silvery-grey with red streaks, to obsidian black with dark crimson streaks. "Elias?" called out Lux. The Judge looked over at the door and noticed his friends peeking into his room. He waved for them to come over but had a finger against his lips while he did so.

Lux, followed by Garen and Soraka, quickly stepped into the room and closed the door behind them as quietly as possible. Elias didn't leave his seat nor removed his gaze away from the couch when the trio approached him. "Elias wh-" Garen started but was cut off by the teen's hand. With a soft groan, a child with messy magenta hair crawled out from under the blankets. She yawned silently and stretched out her limbs like a cat before flopping back onto the couch. "Annie you need to get up now. It's almost noon and I have some people here I'd like you to meet." he told her softly. Annie groaned more and peeked her head out from the covers, "Do I have to?" The Judge chuckled lightly and walked over to the couch and sat down next to her.

A thought came to Elias' and he grinned widely. "Well I guess I can avoid the strawberry ice cream when I go out later today..." he said with a mischievous look on his face. The child quickly shot from underneath the covers, grabbed a hold of his arm, and gave him the biggest puppy-dog eyes he'd ever seen. "Noooo anything but that!" she whined. The Judge put on his best "stern face" before relaxing and laughing lightly. "Then say hi to my friends. And be nice alright?" Elias tells her.

Annie nodded cheerfully before letting go of his arm and facing the rest of the group, who was all in a state of shock at her attitude towards him. "I'm Annie. It's nice to meet you all," she said with a cheery smile, "Have you seen my bear Tibbers?" Elias groaned silently and patted her head, "Annie no summoning demonic flaming teddy bears alright? Save that for bad guys okay?" The Dark Child looked at him confused but quickly nodded in agreement and went to sit down in his lap. "Ok big brother. I wont have Tibbers bear hug them." she giggled.

"Wait did she just call you "Big Brother" Elias?" Soraka asked confused. Annie nodded cheerfully as a response and plopped down in the Judge's lap. "Um... mind explaining how that happened? Hell explain everything since you got back because we are all confused here." Garen said in his loud voice. The Judge was messing with Annie's magenta hair and was laughing at the funny faces she was making. "Its quite the interesting story actually. Annie why don't you tell them what happened?" chuckled the teen who was enjoying messing with the little girls hair.

She had a pouty-face on but it quickly shifted into a look of excitement and bewilderment. "I was walking through the Ins... Insti," she said while struggling with the word, "Institute. In-sti-tute." pronounced Elias to helped her say the word. "Ohh... thank you big brother!" she replies with a smile on her face. "Anyway, I was walking through the Institute after the glowy blue light brought me and some hooded man came up to me. He told me to come with him to this room so I could be... what was it again brother?" Annie looked at him. "Judged." he replied. "Yeah that's it! Then he started leading me to this big black doorway and said that I would be judged inside there. But before we got to it, big brother Elias came up to us and told the hooded man that he would take me the rest of the way. And that's how we met!" Annie concluded.

Garen, Lux, and Soraka listened to the story and they all agreed with the story, but one part. Elias also noticed what they were thinking about and looked over at Lux and nodded his head towards Annie, who was now braiding his hair for fun. Lux took the cue and stood up, "Hey Annie do you want to see a magic trick? We have to do it outside though." she asked the little girl. The Dark Child's eyes widened and she jumped from her seat and ran to her, squealing with joy, "Yes, yes I wanna see!" The blonde smiled warmly at her and took her hand and led her out of the room, leaving the rest of the champions alone.

"I want to know what was going on too." the Judge said seriously. Garen and Soraka's attention fixed themselves on the teen and nodded in agreement. "How did you even find her in the first place? And when did this all start?" asked the Starchild. The black-and-red-haired champion leaned back into the recliner and crossed his arms. "First, this happened a day or so after I came back from Demacia. Second, my training with Ezreal has helped sharpen, and discover new abilities I have. One of them happens to be sensing the essences and intentions of people." he nonchalantly replies. "Sense their essences? Please explain." Garen asked puzzled. "Basically I can sense, no pinpoint the... life force, or soul of creatures around me if you will. I can even take it one step further and look into their intentions as well." Elias explains.

Soraka had a grim look on her face and her blue skin seemed to pale. "That... that is something I've only seen members of the Shadow Isles able to do." she said through shaky breaths. Elias rubbed the back of his neck and looked down at the floor, "Yeah... Somehow my powers resemble those of the Shadow Isles, even though I'm not from it." The Starchild nodded slowly before Garen ushered him to continue. "Back to the creep in the robe. I sensed something evil and sinister walking around the League and I don't mean Shadow Isle champions or any of the other malicious ones, this one reeked pure evil. Then I noticed a smaller life in close proximity to the ominous presence: childish, cheery, slightly psychotic, but mainly untainted. After that I knew I had to go check out what was going on." the teen finished.

"That would lead into you taking her to the correct Judgement Hall where she'd be safe. But why have you been locked away in your room all this time?" Garen said, crossing his arms. Elias' face darkened and eyed around the room before speaking in a quiet tone. "That same presence kept following her around. I spoke to the Head Summoner on the issue and he thought it would be best if I kept guard on her. Whatever, or whoever, finally disappeared a week or so later but I wanted to keep watch some more. In the process of doing that however, little Annie decided to adopt me as her big brother." he finished with a chuckle.

The other two champions nodded before going into a trance of deep thought. The room remained silent for several minutes before Soraka spoke up, "I will have to talk to the other Supports about this issue. I'll also talk to Maxis about setting up safety wards around the Institute so that something like this cannot happen again." Garen and Elias nodded in agreement when the door suddenly burst open to reveal a very cheerful Annie, and a very stunned Lux who had part of her hair singed off. "Let me guess: Annie showed you Tibbers?" Elias said with a smirk. Lux's reply was a small nod followed by her walking towards her brother and hiding behind him.

"Eli, Eli! Big sister Lux showed me a trick where she disappeared!" Annie says excitedly. Everyone's heart melted at the pure adorableness of Annie being excited about the trick, and the fact she called the blonde her big sister. Elias laughed at her words and went over to ruffle her hair. "Well if Lux is your big sister then Garen is also your big brother." he tells her with a smile on his face. She quickly then turned to Garen who was now standing and her eyes widened with amazement. "You are my big brother Elias, but he is the even bigger brother!" Annie gleefully said with a smile on her face.

To many people's surprise, Garen actually laughed heartily at her remark and knelt down in front of her. "That's right, if Lux will be your sister then I'm now your even bigger brother." he said in his proud tone of voice. Her smile widened even further as she ran up and hugged the behemoth of a man, thanking him for being so kind to her. Lux giggled started telling Annie how if she wanted to go to Demacia all she would have to do is ask her and they'd be there in a flash. Soraka even mentioned that if she ever got hurt that she should come to the Support quarters right away so that they could heal her of whatever injury. The rest of the day was spent catching up and telling each other about the few weeks that have happened.

Soon nightfall came and the group of friends decided to call it a day. Annie had fallen asleep hours ago and was curled up in Elias' lap; snuggled up against him and snoring peacefully. After everyone had left, Elias gently picked up the magenta-haired girl and placed her on the couch, covering her up and tucking her in. "What an eventful day." the Judge sighed to himself. The day was indeed tiring for him but it also cheered him up considerably and made him forget about being homesick. He then walked into his bathroom, took a shower, brushed his teeth, and put on his pajamas on which consisted of a black sleeveless shirt and black sweatpants.

Crashing onto his bed, he glanced over at a curled up Annie, who was sleeping peacefully and clutching Tibbers in her arms. The thought made him smile but put on thoughtful look. "I should get another bed or something in here. Sleeping on the couch is messing me up pretty badly, and with two girls staying here I'm gonna need a bed." Elias said to himself. He just shrugged it off however and crawled under his covers, slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Elias once again woke up with an insufferable headache, except this time it came from a completely different source. Someone was outside of his room banging loudly on his door and yelling things that made no sense. He looked around the room to see that Annie was still wrapped up in the covers and sleeping soundly. When the knocking stopped the teen was relieved. Until the banging got louder. Much louder.

Finally irritated to the point where he couldn't take it any more, Elias groggily got out of bed and stumbled towards the door. "I'm coming! Just give me damn minute." mutters the Judge as he approaches the door. He slowly cracked it open and peeked his head through it to see that Irelia was standing there. "Oh it's you. Come on in." he tells her while opening up the door more. She politely bows and walks into the room, leaving Elias to close the door behind them. "So what brings you here Irelia?" he asks her, leaning against his dresser as he does so.

The Ionian captain takes a look around his room then looks at him, "I have come to inform you about our match later today. It will be me, you, Karma, Lucian, and that evil witch Syndra." she said with the last name being like poison to her. The Judge took note of her bitterness towards Syndra and remembered how the Dark Sovereign was an enemy of Ionia. "Ok. Who's on the enemy team?" Elias asks her. She shook her head and crossed her arms, "I have no idea. I've heard that it's mainly consisting of Demacian and Noxian champions.

The teen's face turned into a frown for he did not wish to possibly have to fight his friends. "Alright thank you for the heads up." he politely thanks her. Irelia flashes him a small smile before noticing something moving on the couch. She makes her way over to it and sees that Annie is asleep on the couch and is still clutching Tibbers close to her. Instead of acting rationally and asking what she is doing her, the Will of the Blades summons her weapon and has all four of her massive blades at the Judge's throat.

"Why is this child here. She has been missing for weeks!" she demanded with a scowl on her face. The black-and-red-haired teen sighed before ducking under her blades and moving at an impossible speed, now face to face with the Ionian woman. Pressing his scythe's blade to her neck he looked her dead in the eyes, her shock clearly evident in them. "Let me make this clear: Make sure you have the facts in before you decide to kill someone. I have been placed as her bodyguard by Head Summoner Maxis due to her being such a young girl. If you have any problems with that, I'll gladly tell him about them." Elias growled at her.

After she nodded slowly as her response, he slowly retracted his blade back into the darkness and shook his head. "I knew you were still naive but still I never imagined you to attack me like that. How old are you anyway?" he asks her quickly. She stiffened at his words because she had heard the word "naive" numerous times, and they always followed with her age. "I'm only 26." she coldly replied. Elias knew he hit a nerve and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that. It was a 'I just had four blades controlled by a master martial arts fighter being pressed against my neck' moment. Won't happen again."

Irelia's face reddened in anger but she quickly composed herself before bowing and leaving the room. When she was gone, Annie was wide awake and staring at him in awe. "You wanna go get some breakfast with me?" Elias asks her with a smile. She quickly nods and rushes to the bathroom to get ready. After bathing, brushing her teeth, and clothing herself in her pink dress, she walks out with her magenta hair damp that's in her eyes. He chuckles at her appearance and goes into the bathroom and gets ready himself. Once he was out, Annie was sitting on the couch, casually drying her hair off with her fire magic, then looked up at him. His jet-black hair was a wet mess that managed to hide the red streaks in them, and his outfit consisted of the same hoodie and jeans he had when was in Demacia.

The two soon left the room and began walking down the halls of the Institute. They were greeted with hello's by various summoners and a few champions as well. After walking for a bit, Elias noticed that Annie was staring at him intensely. "Oh alright." he said smiling and kneeling. A wide grin came across the child's face and she climbed onto his back, making sure to hold onto him tightly. Once she had a firm grip on him, the Judge continued walking until he had exited the Institute of War entirely. "So what do you want today?" the teen says looking up at her. She pondered for a moment and quickly decided with a single word, "Scones!" He smiled and nodded pointed forward, "Then acquiring scones we shall do!" Annie giggled and mimicked his pointing motion.

Both champions continued forward until the little one noticed a bakery that was serving breakfast items and steered the older one towards it. Once they had arrived at the door, Annie slipped off of his shoulders and stood next to him while he opened up the door. The scent of freshly made pastries and sweet cinnamon rolls was intoxicating to say the least. Elias breathed in the smells of the bakery and sighed happily. Then he noticed the two workers in the bakery and nearly lost all of his color.

Pantheon and Morgana were in the back rolling dough, sprinkling sugar, and applying frosting across various assorted goods. After a while of staring, and Annie deciding on what she wanted, Elias was snapped out of his daze and found something he wanted as well. He told her to go find a seat at one of the tables and Morgana came over and had a smile on her face to his surprise. "What would you like?" she asks him. "She wants one of the strawberry scones and I'll take a cinnamon roll." he politely replies. The Fallen Angel nods and quickly gathered the items and placed it in a bag. "Your total comes out to 150 gold." Morgana tells him.

He hands her his golden champion's card, which was given to him so that he could spend his earnings from matches. She takes the card and swipes it at the register before handing it back. "You're a champion too? I've never seen you around." the angel tells him. "I'm relatively new actually. The names Elias, and that's Annie. She's another new champion as well." he responds. Morgana looked shocked to hear that a little girl was in the League of Legends but figured if she was in it, she was immensely powerful. "I see. Well I'll see you on the Rift perhaps. Until then." Morgana says bowing her head slightly.

The Judge waves goodbye and took a hold of Annie's hand before promptly leaving the bakery. After handing her scone to her, Annie took a bite of it and was met with pure bliss. "Thish ish sho good!" she said between mouthfuls. Elias chuckled at this and ate his own cinnamon roll which tasted absolutely perfect. After the two had finished their breakfast they pondered on what they should do today till his match. "We could go to that park you've wanted to visit." suggests the teen. She pondered for a moment before shaking her head. "I wanna go see big sister Lux and see that magic trick again!" the magenta-haired child exclaims. Elias nods and picks her back onto her shoulders, then starts to walk towards the Demacian wing of the Institute.

The enormous blue and gold banners were the dead give away. Even more so was the man standing in golden armor sparring with a large man dressed in his Dauntless Vanguard armor. The two were slicing at each other with their weapons and constantly switching who had the upper hand. When Elias appeared in hand with Annie, the two old friends stopped clashing and looked at the pair. Jarvan walked over to them and shared a manly handshake between himself and the Judge. "Well you're a a sight for sore eyes. How have you been Elias?" the prince asks him. "I've been doing well. How's that situation in Demacia?" he responds.

The golden prince sighed but quickly shook his head, "The issue was thankfully resolved. Even after Shyvana burned down some of the city on accident, most of the decorations were salvageable and were quickly put up. Lux had to work especially hard to put on a light show to make up for some of the activities being put out of commission because of the snow." Elias chuckled at all the trouble his friend had gone through but he knew that the prince would make it through anything. Elias felt a tug on his sleeve and looked behind to meet a pair of emerald colored eyes staring at him. He leans down and she whispers in his ear: "Who's the big gold man?"

"Ah right. Annie this is Jarvan the 4th. He's Garen's boss and best friend. Jarvan this is Annie. She's became a new champion lately and has been placed under my care by Head Summoner Maxis." he explains to both of them. Jarvan knelt down and took off his helmet, letting his messy black hair fall around his face. "It's nice to meet you." the prince says, extending a hand towards the little girl. She shyly took it and shook his hand before hiding behind Elias again. "So what brings you here Elias?" Garen says to his friend. He motions to Annie and says to him, "She wanted to see Lux do the invisibility trick again before my match later today."

"She's inside the library. I'll take you to her." the Demacian captain tells them. The group said their goodbyes to Jarvan and walked inside of the Demacian living quarters. Saying the inside was stunning would be an understatement. The halls were covered in various paintings and Demacian banners glittered with golds and blues. After a few turns and hallways, they finally arrived at the library. Inside of it was a large collection of books, scattered papers, and various other bits of paper lying around. In the back of the library there was a small desk piled high with papers and books alike, and sitting there was Lux who was reading an old book that seemed like it could crumble if you mishandled it.

"Lux! I've brought you some visitors." Garen whispered loudly. The blonde looked up from her book and smiled at her guests. "Lux!" Annie gleefully squealed as she ran towards her. Lux hugged her adopted sister and looked at her outfit. "Where's your headband? It looks so cute on you!" she asks the girl. "I forgot to grab it today. But I got a scone today from a lady with really big wings. It was delicious." the little girl told her adopted sister. The two girls talked to each other for a while and so did the two guys when an announcer announced the time for the next League match.

"Well that's my cue to leave guys. You guys gonna watch the match from here?" Elias asks Garen. "You can count on it. I wish you good luck." Garen replies. The Judge nods and says goodbye to Lux and Annie before running off to his next match.

* * *

_AN: Well guys here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long to write but I managed to get it done before I go back to school. As always I hope you enjoy and hope that you have a good night/day/evening/read and I'll see you next time._


	11. Chapter 11: Death feels like Part 1

Chapter 11: Death feels like... Part 1

"Oh thank god I made it!" Elias says between quick breaths, exhausted from running all the way to the meeting room. Irelia and Karma looked at him with slight worry but both of them shook it off. The Judge looks around the room to make sure he was in the right room, and after seeing Irelia and Karma he was sure of it. "Hey." he awkwardly says. Karma replies with a small wave and a smile, while Irelia had a frown across her face. "I take it you're still mad about earlier?" the teen teases Irelia. She shoots him a glare before sitting in a corner and takes a sudden interest of the floor. "I'll take that as a yes. So Karma is everyone here?" Elias asks her.

She nods slightly and gestures to the other champion in the room. Lucian was kneeling in the center of the room and muttering a silent prayer about gaining the strength to defeat his foes. Syndra... well she hadn't shown up yet. The last team member was nowhere in sight and the Ionians had no clue where she was. "She's probably doing something despicable right now." Irelia said with a scowl. The teen frowned at her response but then he remembered the conflict between Syndra and... well pretty much all of Ionia.

"She'll be here. Isn't there a penalty or something that happens to champions that don't show up for matches?" Elias asks Karma. The Ionian ponders for a second before shrugging. "I honestly have no idea. If there is such a rule then I have not seen one since I have become a champion." she replies to him. "There should be a rule... that would probably teach her..." grumbles Irelia in the background. The Judge sighs quietly and shakes his head at the young Ionian's demeanor. "Is she always like this?" he quietly asks the Enlightened One. She shakes her head no before pointing towards a newly arrived Syndra. "Irelia is only like this when she is around Syndra. You haven't heard of what she did?"

Elias shook his head and slowly remembered Syndra's lore. "She used to terrorize Ionian villages with her power. They sealed her powers away but... she ended up killing her master and gaining her powers back right?" he tells her. Karma seemed shocked at his knowledge but continues his assumption, "Yes but... there is something else that is bugging Irelia a well." She quickly waves her hand for him to come near, to which he promptly does. "She likes Syndra, but the Dark Sovereign likes someone else." Karma whispers in his ear. A large smirk appears on his face before he says, "The Lore really can change when everything is real..." She seemed baffled at his words and was about to ask what he meant, just as the League match was beginning to start. Rings of blue light circled the champions and a bright flash of light swiftly followed. The champions were now on the Rift.

* * *

_The match 5 minutes in..._

"SYNDRA!" screamed Irelia at her teammate while she left her alone to the hands of the enemy Nautilus. **_An ally has been slain_** rang throughout the Rift for the 5th time during this match. The young Ionian had died three times so far because Syndra had managed to go into the jungle and draw out the Titan of the Depths, flinging enemy champions towards her, all while laughing and retreating back towards her middle lane.

Elias was doing his best to help out when he could but with the new jungle being tougher than ever, he had to recall a couple of times to even stay alive. His Skeletal Shield helped him survive a bit longer than usual but since he only had the second tier of his jungle item it didn't do much. However after a bit more farming the jungle, and successful gank against the enemy Renekton let him and Irelia gain the gold they needed for the items they needed. "Finally got my jungle item finished. Next is my Blade of the Ruined King." the teen says to himself.

Minutes which felt like hours passed by and the tension on the blue team only grew. Syndra started to intentionally feed the enemy Ahri and started going top and killing all of the valuable minions that resided there. Karma had to help restrain Irelia and help Lucian deal with Ezreal and Soraka on the enemy team. The Judge however was going strong. He managed to counter-jungle Nautilus and steal both of his buffs and his toad, kill Renekton a few more times, and was able to kill dragon. "Got my Blade, now I need a Hydra and... oh shit." curses the teen. Syndra was going top again while Ahri and Nautilus followed her. Once the Dark Sovereign saw it was a 2v1 battle, she allowed them to kill her, letting the fox get her Deathfire Grasp and the Titan his Sunfire Cape. After a few minutes however, the score was almost tied at 19 to 20 kills on each side.

A flash of light and an aggravated growl was on Irelia's face when she appeared next to Elias who had come back from killing Dragon. "I know see why you hate Syndra. But aren't the champions controlled by the Summoners?" he asks her. The Ionian's face was red with anger and she shook her head, "No summoner is dumb enough to control here on the Rift. So she is moving and acting on her own free will." The Judge's face contorted into a frown and looked off into the distance. "Understandable, but still. Letting her run rampant throughout matches would make them near unwinnable or extremely difficult at all." he shakes his head. The two seemed to share an understanding for once but a shrill scream was heard in the distance.

The teen pulled up a view of the minimap and shifted it towards top lane where Syndra was engaged in combat with an enraged Renekton. The silver-haired woman was on the ground, blood was gushing from her leg and trying desperately to defend herself against the giant lizard's onslaught. "Irelia something is wrong! Syndra is pinned in top lane and is bleeding severely!" Elias frantically tells her. Irelia's face shifts into one of great concern and fear before shaking her head. "I thought it was impossible to sustain any type of real injury here." she replies. "Look at your minimap and see for yourself!"

Irelia did what she was told and brought up the minimap on her screen, only to gasp at the sight. Syndra was now leaning against the tower and had two large gashes in her right leg and her abdomen. Her breathing was heavy and the blood would not stop oozing from her wounds. "Get to bottom lane and tell them what is going on. I'll go through mid lane and through the jungle to top lane and hopefully tell Nautilus what is going on. I'll also go and find Ahri and fill her in. Go now!" Elias yells to her. The Will of the Blades nods quickly and rushes off towards the bottom lane, while Elias quickly grabs a couple of red vials and bounds down the middle lane to find the fox lady.

While running he noticed that the minions had started to disappear off of the minimap and off of the Rift as well. Once he got to middle lane, all of the minions had vanished from thin air. Elias manages to find Ahri and approaches her, "Ahri something bad is going on. We need to stop fighting in the match now!" Ahri's fox tails swish back and forth while she ponders on the teen's words. "I haven't noticed anything bad going on, so what is happening?" she replies in an innocent tone of voice. The Judge walks over to her and brings up the minimap and shows her the state of Syndra. The Nine-Tailed Fox had to suppress a gag at the sight of the bloodied champion but managed to compose herself. "I'll go tell Nautilus what is going on. You go help her right away!" she tells Elias. He gives an appreciative nod before rushing as quickly as he could up to top lane.

When he got to top lane Syndra's condition had worsened quicker than expected. Her breathing had become very shallow and her skin had paled to an even ghostlier white. Elias kneels down next to her and uncaps one of the red vials, pouring the liquid into the Dark Sovereign's mouth and helping her drink it . Syndra coughed lightly and some of the color had returned to her skin, but the blood loss was too much for anyone to handle. _Shit this isn't good. Her life aura is fading rapidly. If help doesn't get here quickly, her life will end._ the Judge thinks to himself.

While Elias was fixing her wounds to the best of his abilities, a deafening roar rang throughout the Rift. Renekton was pacing furiously along the lane as he could not risk running into the tower and be blown to smithereens. The Judge kept frantically working with Syndra's wounds but the blood loss started to take its toll. Her skin had now lost all of its color and she began to fade in and out of consciousness.

"Syndra stay awake dammit! I refuse to have you die on me. Just hold on until the supports get here alright!" Elias ordered her. Voices were heard coming from the jungle and the teen breathed a sigh of relief. That is until Renekton started to head towards the voices. The bipedal reptilian flashed an evil grin and began heading towards the group of champions headed this way. "Shit." cursed the teen. He had to stop Renekton from possibly injuring the others, but at the same time he had to keep working to keep Syndra alive.

_Fuck. Fuck, fuck... fuck! I do not want to use that. But if worse comes to worse…_ the Judge thought to himself. While lost in his thoughts, Elias almost didn't hear the screaming that came from the jungle. The teen grit his teeth and looked over at Syndra whose eyes were pleading him not to leave her side. "I have to save them. If I come back and you're… I'll fix it alright?" he tells her softly. Her eyes flashed in horror at what he was hinting towards but she didn't have the strength to fight him. The Judge gently set her against the tower and began running towards the screams.

When he arrived it was total chaos. Renekton was arcing his blade in a maddened frenzy towards the trapped champions, all of which were being pushed back. He was pushing back Soraka and the others into the Dragon's den, but thankfully it was nowhere to be seen. Ezreal was firing Mystic shots rapidly towards the hulking lizard, but sadly all of them seemed to bounce off of his rough hide. Irelia was barely managing to keep Renekton back by flinging her four blades at the beast constantly, but she was slowly beginning to tire out. Soraka was healing both of them as quickly as she could, but the Butcher's relentless assault made healing them a difficult task.

Elias quickly used his Death's Grasp ability to impale the lizard champion, and throw him behind the teen. "Go now! Syndra's almost dead!" he yells to the group. Ezreal nods and takes a hold of Soraka and Irelia and Arcane Shifts out of the Dragon's den and towards top lane, leaving the Judge of the Fallen alone with the Butcher of the Sands. "Renekton! Why did you attack Syndra?!" demands the teen. A roar met with his blade coming down onto the Judge was the answer the beast gave.

The teen quickly rose his arms and caught Renekton's blade on the shaft of his scythe. Elias held his ground and kept the monstrous lizard at bay while his friends managed to escape. After the brief power struggle, the teen rolled out of the way and Renekton's weapon came down onto the ground with a shattering force. The Judge stood up quickly and dashed towards the Butcher, swinging his scythe towards his neck. It connected with the reptile's neck and he dragged it downwards. A large gash was made in Renekton's neck and he gave a bloodcurdling roar that echoed throughout the Rift.

"Damn lizard is getting on my nerves." Elias said through gritted teeth. He began leading the infuriated champion deeper into the jungle in an attempt to help his friends escape. Luckily the giant lizard followed him and was drawn away from Ezreal's group. Once they were deep enough into the jungle, the dark-haired teen swung his scythe and generated a black and blue shockwave of energy that flew towards Renekton. The Butcher squatted on his haunches and leaped sideways, spinning with his weapon and avoiding the shockwave. He then quickly leaped again and tried to drive his weapon through the teen's chest. Luckily Elias saw through this and activated his Skeletal Shield at the right moment which blocked the reptiles attack.

This only enraged Renekton further and caused the beast to become even more bloodthirsty. The Butcher of the Sands started wildly swinging his blade around and ignoring everything that surrounded him. The blade was cutting through the tall grass, trees, and even the walls that surrounded the jungle. Elias kept slashing his scythe horizontally to continue generating shockwaves of energy that kept Renekton back but he was slowly tiring out. The reptilian champion suddenly ceased attacking and roared so loud, that the Judge had to duck his head and cover his ears. When he looked back up at Renekton, dark energies were flowing into his body, causing the champion to grow rapidly in size.

After a few seconds, Renekton's body was gigantic and had a circle of raging rapids around him. Elias was stunned by his sudden transformation and couldn't move his legs. He quickly dodged however after the Butcher arced his massive blade down towards the teen. "Looks like I don't have a choice. Hopefully no one sees me out here..." the Judge mutters to himself. The raven-haired teen slammed his scythe down into the ground and began rapidly chanting a series of intelligible words to himself. His body began to glow with an eerie black and red power that seemed to sap the life out of everything in the vicinity. After muttering a few more words, he slammed his scythe once again into the ground, and the area around him became shrouded in darkness.

Once the darkness had cleared, the teen had grown both in size and in age. He was now taller, broader, had a light stubble, and his face had changed to a more mature and serious one. His weapon had also grown to match its user's height, and also became more elegant looking. "Butcher of the Sands, I am impressed that you had me resort to using this. However, if you do not cease your rage, I will be forced cut your life short. This is my Final Judgement." Elias spoke in a now deep, monotone voice. Renekton stopped for a second as if he was struggling to regain control over himself and stared at the Judge. "Must... Tell... Brother..." the champion struggled to say. The raven-haired man looked curiously at the beast took in his words._ Perhaps there is something connected with Renekton's becoming enraged and the Rift suddenly failing._ Elias thought to himself.

Renekton's rage consumed him once again and he leaped towards the Judge. A smirk came across the newly transformed champion's face and he didn't move. Instead he gripped his scythe into both hands and swung downwards at the lizard, impaling him through the snout and rooting him into the ground. The reptilian champion came down with a loud crash and struggled to stand back up. Elias knelt down in front of Renekton and placed a hand on his head. "Hopefully this won't kill you. Hopefully." the Judge spoke gently.

He began concentrating his power and a green light came from his hand. The Butcher's wriggling slowly ceased as the light began to grow in brightness and intensity. A few more seconds after Renekton had stopped moving, Elias pulled his hand away from the other champion's head and removed his scythe from his snout. The Judge stumbled onto the ground and landed onto his back, slowly reverting to his teen self again. "Ok, never want to fucking do that again. Soul stealing is so damn hard to control sometimes." he said between ragged breaths.

Minutes passed by and eventually Elias was able to stand up again. He grudgingly stood up and looked around at the carnage his fight with Renekton. Trees were scattered around, pieces of rubble were imbedded in trees, and the lizard champion himself was lying unconscious on the ground. The Judge dusted himself off and trudged over to the unconscious Butcher of the Sands to make sure that he hadn't inflicted serious damage to the champion.

After a quick inspection, the raven-haired teen could find no issues with him. "Better leave him here for now. I knocked him out pretty damn good." sighs the teen. Nautilus soon emerged from the trees and discovered both champions. "You must hurry boy. They need your help. I will deal with this one." was all the Titan said in his monotone, echoed voice. The Judge's mindset quickly shifted to a panicked one as he forgot about Syndra's grievous wounds and quickly dashed towards where he had left her. Halfway there, a sharp pain flooded his senses and he nearly collapsed from the suddenness of it. "Oh shit." he breathed quietly. Another wave of pain hit him and the Judge collapsed onto one knee.

"Have to… get there." Elias said between labored breaths. He slowly rose to his feet and walked as quickly as he could to the tower. When he arrived, all he could hear were the cries of Irelia and the pleas of Karma and Ahri trying to pry her friend away from a motionless body. Soraka and Sona were downcast and had the looks of shame written on their faces. Ezreal had his head hung low and had his fists balled out of pure frustration and anger. This was the pain he had felt on the way here: pain of loss, failure, and the pain of death. As the Judge of the Fallen and a champion of the League, Elias knew that he would have to eventually deal with death on a daily basis, but this was too much.

The flood of Syndra's memories was too strong for Elias to handle. The pain of her childhood of growing up alone and not being able to do anything, everyone outcasting her and labeling her a vile creature, the and cruel treatment of her former master was too much to bear. Unable to bear the mental stress any longer, the dark-haired teen silently walked towards the group of champion. "Irelia, Karma, Ahri. Move." he said in a serious and commanding tone. Irelia was brought out of her sobbing and looked up at him. The three champions stared at him in disbelief because Elias was never this serious before, not even when he was guarding Annie for the first couple of weeks. They slowly parted away from Syndra and stared at the Judge with both teary eyes and puzzled looks.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Irelia says with a sniffle. Elias takes a deep breath and glares the group of champions. "None of you will breathe a word about what I am about to do. Is that clear?" the teen says in a cold and serious tone of voice. A unanimous nod came from all of them and the Judge lets a sigh of relief come from his mouth. "Good. Now I can begin working." he quickly says. Elias kneels down next to the body of Syndra and summoned his scythe out of nothingness. He planted the scythe into the ground a foot from her head and twisted it deeper into the earth. Three more scythes rose from the ground and created a box around the Dark Sovereign's body, each of them glowed an eerie shade of red. The Judge began chanting what sounded like an old Ionian prayer but the words sounded different and carried immense power with them. A few minutes passed and Elias had finished muttering to himself before he turned to his group. "Karma, Ahri, Ezreal, I need your guy's help." the teen tells them.

They all warily approach him but their doubt soon subsides as Elias explains. "I'm not going to mortally harm you, I just need the blood of a saint, a creature of the realm, and one of untapped power; and you three fit the bill." the Judge says with his arms spread out. "Excuse me but I am not a creature!" huffed Ahri. Elias chuckled at the response and shook his head, "I was referring to your origins Ahri. You started out as a fox remember?" A small blush crept onto her face and her tails drooped out of embarrassment. "But wait there are four scythes, don't we need another person?" Ezreal asks confused. The raven-haired teen smiled at his trainer's ingenuity and nodded. "The key component is the blood of one who is always on the brink of death." He replies to Ezreal. The Explorer's head cocked sideways and had a puzzled look on his face. Elias chuckled and looked back at Syndra's body, "I'm not exactly alive anymore Ez. The supports can tell you the same thing: my life aura is way too weak to sustain even a small rabbit's life, much less a person." His friend and mentor stared at him in shock while the supports nodded in agreement.

"Alright enough talking. I have to do this quickly otherwise I have to drag her back forcefully. All of you chose a scythe and prick your finger on it." Elias quickly tells to the group. They stared at him confused but each of them chose a scythe and pricked their fingers on it, each of them inhaling sharply when they did so. Blood slowly trickled down the champion's fingers and softly landed onto the ground surrounding Syndra. The Judge runs his hand across the blade of his scythe and winces at the pain, but also adds his blood to the ground.

Shortly after, the ground emits a faint purple glow and the earth around them begins to rumble. Elias was standing by Syndra's head murmuring intelligible words, each word seeming to grow in power. An eerie fog surrounds the champions as the teen concentrates more on the ritual he was performing. A few more moments passed and the fog and light disappeared, and the ground ceased shaking. The Judge's scythe had merged back into one, which was a good thing given how he was leaning heavily against it. His face was beaded in sweat and pain but he managed to weakly gesture over to the now awakening Syndra.

Her lavender colored eyes fluttered open and numerous shocked gasps came from the group of champions. Elias had a smug grin on his face, but it shifted to one of immense pain. Irelia was the first to tackle the revived champion, both teary eyed and clinging to her. The other champions soon joined Irelia fell into a group hug around Syndra. However, familiar rings of blue surround them and all of the champions are transported back to the Institute of War. Swarms of champions and summoners surrounded the group and started firing questions rapidly at them. The Judge uses this as a distraction and quickly slips away from the loud gathering of people.

Elias quickly made his way towards the nearby garden and looked around to make sure no one had followed him. He thought he made it out unnoticed, but someone was tailing him into the Institute's garden...

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_AN: SOOOOO hello people! I'm back with Part 1 of this chapter and I am already working on the next one. Thank you all for the 3300+ views, and of course all of the follows, favorites, and of course the reviews. Until next time, this is Azreal7100, taking off._


	12. Chapter 12: Death Feels Like Part 2

Chapter 12: Death Feels Like... Part 2

"Damn. I have to go deeper into the garden." huffs Elias. His body was now drenched in sweat and all of his limbs were slowly becoming like jelly. The Judge's movement was slowly decaying the further he walked, and his breathing was slowly becoming more irregular and raspy. Once he was deep enough into the garden, he found a nearby tree and leaned against it. "I probably can't do that again for a while." Elias says between labored breaths. He groaned in pain and clutched his head which was now pulsing in pain.

The teen felt his legs give way and collapsed against the tree. "This is definitely not like the time I accidentally revived that rabbit." he muttered to himself. He stayed leaning against the tree for a while in hopes that he would be able to recover. However this was not the case, and Elias' pain only worsened. Now his body was covered in sweat, and his pain only escalating to almost unbearable levels. The Judge was slowly running out of time and options, but one of them was always something he was curious about. Slowly raising his hand, the teen summoned his scythe and flipped it so that the blade was facing his chest. "I wonder... If I die, will I be brought back again?" he said with a hint of doubt in his tone. The Judge shook his head and brought up his scythe, "Only one way to find out." After those words, he brought the blade down into his chest, quickly ending his own life.

* * *

Ashe had followed the teen into the garden after the incident that occurred on the Rift. She was very curious as to why he left, and just as curious as to what happened. The Frost Archer slowly made her way deeper into the forest and came across a grizzly scene. Elias was propped against and old tree, his weapon protruding from his chest, and he was drenched in a pool of his own crimson-colored blood. As she is a battle-hardened warrior, the scene did not make the Queen of the Freljord queasy in the slightest. What puzzled her however, was how the Judge of the Fallen was slain.

She slowly approached his body while staying vigilant for anything that could attack her. As she got to his body, she noticed that the wound around the scythe was beginning to close, and the blood around the teen was starting to seep back into its host's body. Elias quickly shot forward, gasping for air and startling the woman observing him. Ashe's hunter instincts caused her to dart backwards, draw her bow, and pointed an ice blue arrow towards the teen's head. A few minutes of silence passed before the archer finally let her bow fall, and she clutched her chest tightly. "That was quite the scare Judge of the Fallen." she told the now revived teen.

Elias was still panting heavily and was looking around confused. "Holy shit. That actually worked." he breathed heavily. The Queen of Freljord looked at him confused and took a step forward, "What worked?" "Oh I just killed myself to see if I could still revive. Turns out it worked!" the teen said triumphantly. The Judge's eyes quickly widened and snapped his head towards the Frost Archer. "A-Ashe? What are you doing here?" Elias asks her startled. The two had once briefly spoken together about her husband Tryndamere during a match one day where he was constantly spewing insults and taunts to the enemy champions. Ashe cocked her head to the side and placed her hands on her hips, "I should ask the same boy." Hearing her call him that made the Judge visibly flinch and caused him to quickly rise to his feet.

"I am not a boy." he angrily growled at her. The two champions stared down each other with piercing gazes before Elias finally took a deep breath. "Sorry. Its just... I was called that a lot by someone I absolutely loathed." the Judge calmly told her. Ashe merely waved her hand and approaches the teen. "It's alright. I have Tryndamere as a husband remember? You getting upset is nothing compared to his... outbursts." the last word spoken gently compared to his true rage. Sighing, the raven-haired teen nodded in agreement and leaned against the tree, "Please don't tell anyone about this. The last thing I want is an angry Demacian mage and a furious ex-Noxian general almost killing me, then having an upset 10 year old pyromaniac set me ablaze."

Ashe lightly laughed at the Judge's request but bowed her head, "I won't tell anyone. You have my word." Elias smiled at the Queen's agreement to keep this a secret and promptly stood up. Rustling was heard behind the two champions, causing both of them to brandish their weapons and face the brush in front of them. "Ashe dear? Where are- Oh there you are!" said a burly figure that came through the bushes. It was an extremely well built man whose lower torso was covered in a black and blue samurai-style armor, his upper torso was bare except for his helmet and the singular piece of armor that stretched across it from his arm, and was carrying a sword as large as himself. "Tryndamere." the archer says with a warm smile. The two champions sheath their weapons and Ashe walks towards her husband.

The Barbarian King returns the smile and walks forward to embrace his wife. "You've been gone for an hour. Everyone has looking for you and that Judge kid." he says while hugging her slightly tighter. A shink sound was heard and Tryndamere looked over his wife's shoulder to see what what it was. Elias was death-staring the Barbarian King straight in the eyes and had his scythe gripped firmly in his hand. Ashe quickly gave her husband a stern look and waved her hand at the teen, "Judge he did not mean anything by it. He calls everyone that is young that." The raven-haired teen nodded slowly and dispelled his weapon. A few minutes later, some other champions found their way into the others.

The newly arrived champions consisted of: Katarina, Garen, Lux, Jarvan, Riven, and a distraught looking Ezreal. "Hey guys. How's it goin?" Elias said with a cheeky smile. His friends rushed to his side and began rattling off questions about where he's been and what happened during the League match. Ezreal however was staring at the Judge intently and did not move from his original spot. "Ez... What's wrong man?" the teen asks his mentor. "You did it again didn't you? You self-resurrected." the Prodigal Explorer spoke in a grave tone. Elias' face darkened and he pushed his way past his friends and approached his mentor. "I-I had to Ez. The memories and pain was a lot worse than before." the raven-haired teen tells him.

"Well what the hell did you do? Bring back a human this time instead of a rabbit?!" the blonde-haired man loudly said. The Judge casts his eyes away from his mentor and shuffles nervously where he stands. "Did you really? Who was it? Who did you bring back?!" yells Ezreal. "It was Syndra! But I had to alright! As long as I can will it, I will not let anyone die in front of me no matter the consequences!" roars Elias, slamming his fist into a nearby tree. Everyone jumped at the Judge's sudden display of anger and stared at him frightened.

Where he had hit the tree, the bark surrounding his fist began to rot and decay at an alarming rate. "E-Elias." Riven shakily said. The Judge looked over at the tree and cursed to himself. "J-just give me a second." he says while looking back to the tree. He places a hand onto the rotted part of the tree and lets a ribbon of black and red energy envelope the bark. After a few seconds, the decaying bark was replaced with freshly created bark, and showed no signs of aging at all. "I'm not stupid Ezreal. I know what the consequences are if I bring someone back, and I know what will happen to me." Elias says quietly to his blonde mentor. Ezreal took a moment to think, but eventually sighed and places his gauntlet onto the raven-haired teen's shoulder. "Just don't use it again unless it is absolutely necessary alright? Everyone and myself wouldn't be able to forgive ourselves if you overextended and lost yourself and actually died." the blonde explorer calmly told his friend.

Elias nodded and looked over at his friends, expecting them to have scared and disapproving looks. Instead he was greeted with friendly smiles and a group people who cared about him. "Come on. Lets all head to that new restaurant that opened up near the Institute!" Lux cheerfully says. The group gives a unanimous agreement and starts to head off towards the restaurant. After a few minutes of walking the Judge stops in his tracks and faces the group, "Wait guys. We have to go get Annie." Lux gives another cheerful smile and shakes her head. "Annie is waiting for us at the entrance of the garden. Oh there she is!" the luminescent blonde says while pointing to a little girl with magenta hair.

"Big Brother!" Annie giggles in delight. She quickly made her way towards the group of champions and launched herself at the Judge. A warm smile came across Elias' face and he embraces the little giggling pyromaniac. Lux gave an overjoyed squeal at the overall adorableness of the two champions, while the others simply smiled warmly at the two. After the two adopted siblings finished their reunion, the raven-haired teen lifted up his magenta-haired step-sibling onto his shoulders and continued the walk towards the restaurant.

* * *

_So here's part two! I know it is kind of short and whatnot, but I felt like the rest of the chapter didn't need much more to run with. I want to thank everyone who has read this fanfic of mine so far and the people who have followed and even favorited it as well. Also, I nearly lost my mind when I saw that the views went from 3300+ to 4600+ in two days after I posted chapter 11. As always I hope you enjoy the read and stay tuned for the next chapter!_


	13. Chapter 13: An Unexpected Turn

_**AN: **__Hey guys, how's it going? Here's the next chapter for my little fanfic, and might I say that there is a twist at the end that I had a little bit of trouble figuring out if I should put it in or not. Also the reason it took so long to put out was the length and of course the pesky thing called "school". Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and I'll see you next time._

* * *

Chapter 13: An Unexpected Turn

Weeks have passed and everything had gone back to normal at the Institute. Matches went on as normal, yet were closely watched to make sure that no serious damage would be inflicted upon champions again. Besides that however, not much had changed around the Institute. Except for Elias' now skyrocketed popularity with the summoners.

Before the Judge was popular simply because he was a new guy that fit in well with the rest of the champion roster. But after saving Syndra from a rampaging Renekton, the summoners began to use him more and more in virtually every role except a mage. Sometimes Elias was used even as an Attack Damage Carry, or ADC for short, which managed to agitate some of the actual carries. However each of them had a different reason and purpose for being upset at the teen's sudden popularity.

Vayne saw this as a form of unwanted competition and would often flash scowls towards Elias every time she saw him. Quinn simply wished to be on the Rift more often, and saw this as a threat to that happening. Jinx simply became bored and wished to kill something which led her to get into numerous confrontations with Vi and Caitlyn. Draven was the most affected by the Judge's boost in popularity to say the least.

The Glorious Executioner's popularity with the summoners had been at an all-time low since Elias was managing to fill in every role that wasn't a mage. Draven took this as a personal insult to his pride and decided to bring this ordeal up with his superiors. He however did not get the answer he wanted to hear.

"Whaddya mean I can't repeatedly kill him? The brat can't die anyway remember?" angrily shouted Draven. The elder Noxian tactician sighed tiredly and glanced over numerous documents sprawled over his desk. "Draven you have already caused your brother and me enough turmoil the first time you killed him. Do you know the amount of paperwork and apologies I had to give to Head Summoner Maxis? I barely managed to save your wretched hide from execution! Both your brother and I had to take a one month suspension from matches to ensure that you could continue to roam about the Rift, gloating about how you are the best. And I don't believe I need to remind you of who covered for _your_ failed assassination of the Exile?!" Swain furiously scolded the Executioner.

Draven shrunk back for a moment before quickly standing straight again. "My tracks? What about Darius? How is he off the hook when he too wa-" His sentence was cut off by the Master Tactician slamming his palms into his desk, and slowly rising out of his seat. Swain began to grow more and more agitated, and slowly shifted into his grotesque bird-like form. "Your brother is one of the most cunning and resourceful generals to ever be under my command. The fact that a man of his size left less tracks compared to his much smaller brother, just boggles my mind. Cassiopeia could leave less of a trace of an assassination compared to you. You allow your pride and arrogance to blind your, and your tactics have suffered... You have become as useless to me as rust on a blade. And to ensure that you do not act against me, I hereby order you not as a father, but as your superior and Grand General to not harm Elias Slade. Is that understood?" the general barked in a raspy tone at the now cowering champion.

The Glorious Executioner had never seen Swain so angry before and promptly nodded his head before dashing out of the room. After a few minutes, the elder Noxian shrunk down to his normal form and laid a weary head into his hands. "Katarina, Talon." he whispered quietly. On cue the two Du Couteau assassins appeared and were at his side. "Yes sir?" swiftly answered the red-headed assassin. "Keep an eye on Draven, I don't want another repeat of the last incident." the elderly man told her. Katarina bowed slightly, matched by her adopted brother. "Anything else sir?" Talon asks, The Master Tactician gives the two assassins a nod, glancing at the piles of documents on his desk. "Any luck on finding the whereabouts of General Marcus?"

The Blade's Shadow grimly shook his head and stood against the wall. "No luck yet. General Marcus is an extremely brilliant and cunning man who is the only being that can best both Katarina and I without breaking a sweat. Finding him when he doesn't wish to be found will is an extremely difficult task indeed." Talon tells his superior. Katarina smiled slightly at the praise her adoptive brother was giving their father, as he never praises anyone as highly as Marcus Du Couteau. Swain nods and looks over at the piles of papers on his desk before looking back over at the Noxian assassins, "There might be someone who could help you two. But as you might remember he is not on the best terms with Noxians as of right now."

Talon shot a look of confusion at the old General, while Katarina crossed her arms and met with the same expression."You mean the Judge?" the redhead asked. The general nodded in response and leaned back into his chair, "As I said, he may not be on the best terms with Noxians at this moment, but he might be willing help you Katarina, you only need to ask your 'Husband' to talk to him. I will conduct my own research down in Noxus tomorrow on his whereabouts." Hearing the word "husband" caused Katarina to avert her gaze towards the floor, her face flushed with a color to match her hair, and a stifled chuckle to come from her brother. Talon received an elbow in the sternum from her and quickly regained his posture. "I will see if Garen can talk to him, Sir." Katarina tells her superior. The two assassins bow and vanish from the room, leaving the elder Noxian general to tend to the mountain of paperwork before him.

When they got outside it was already nightfall, the perfect place for deadly assassins like themselves. The two of them had found themselves on the rooftop of the Noxian quarters and decided to stay there for the time being. "The next time you do that I will gut you alive." angrily scowled Katarina. Her brother simply sighed at her threat and shook his head, "Good luck. Your father is the only one who can best me remember? Not even General Marcus' assassin daughter can take me down." This caused the redhead to scowl again and sit in silence for a couple of minutes. Then a sinister idea came into her mind. "You say only my father can best you. I might not be able to, but I'm sure the other Du Couteau sibling can best you." she said with a smirk.

Talon's face immediately turned as red as Katarina's hair and hid his face under his cowl. "So help me Kat if you breathe a word to Cass I will-" threatened the Blade's Shadow. "Will what? I could go tell her right now if I wanted to." interrupted the other assassin, still smirking. Talon grumbled to himself and fell silent, earning a chuckle from Katarina. "Go talk to your husband and see if he can help you talk to the Judge. I have something else to attend to at this moment." the male assassin told her sister abruptly. She was about to say something to him, but he vanished before she could. "Damn that Talon… Well I guess I will go talk to Garen about talking to the Judge about finding my father." sighs the redheaded assassin. Not a moment longer had passed and she too had disappeared from the rooftop.

* * *

"Yeah sure I'll do it." bluntly says the Judge. "Wait what?!" exclaims Katarina. She had just gotten through a thirty-minute explanation/apology to Elias and was not expecting the answer he just gave. "Wait so you're telling me that even though Draven killed you, and I almost did twice, you will see if you can track down my father or at least tell me if he's alive?" she says in disbelief. "How many times have I beaten you two on the Rift when you guys had skilled summoners? A lot, which in my book makes up for everything really." Elias says with a shrug. He then stood up and patted the crimson-haired assassin on the head without hesitation, "But if it makes you feel better that I say it: apology accepted."

Katarina was dumbfounded at how easily the black-and-red-haired teen just nonchalantly accepted her apology, and even more so how he just pat her head. Garen however, was looking at his friend fearfully due to not knowing what his wife may do to the poor teen. Thankfully instead of beating him into a pulp, the crimson-haired assassin stared directly at the Judge. "Something your dad did when you were little right?" Elias said with a faint smile on his face. She merely nodded at his knowledge of such a thing that sparked nostalgia to well up inside her. "How did you know?" Katarina asks him

The Judge puts on a smile and crosses his arms over his chest, "You wanted to know if he's alive and, well, yes. Marcus Du Couteau is indeed alive." Katarina nearly flung herself at him, but decided not to, considering her husband was in the room. "Well where is he?" swiftly asks the Du Couteau. Elias' face shifted into one of uneasiness and stared at the ground. "I can't tell you." the teen tells her, his face still hung low. Outraged, the crimson-haired assassin was about to bring one of her blades to the Judge's neck, but was stopped mid-lunge by Garen.

"Kat! I'm sure he has a reason why he can't tell you where your father is. Right?" the last word directed towards the Judge. The obsidian-haired teen gave a short nod before taking a deep breath. "You know how I can sense the intentions of people? Well that comes from reading their minds, and while I read your father's, I saw the reasons why he cannot show his face to you, Noxus, especially the League. And his reasons I cannot explain in detail, but they refer to the whole Xerath business." Elias says to the two champions.

After a brief moment of silence, Katarina finally gave and agitated sigh and slipped her way out of Garen's grasp. "That sounds like him. The old bastard really liked to keep secrets." the scarlet-haired assassin sighed. Her husband placed a reassuring hand on her should, which led to the both of them smiling at each other. Elias cleared his throat loudly and was now back in his chair, a sly grin on his face. "If you two want a moment I could step out for a moment." he snickered. Both of the champions quickly hung their heads in embarrassment and had sheepish grins on their faces.

The raven-haired teen chuckled and went over to his bedroom window, cracking it open and letting in the cool Runeterran breeze flow into the room. A sudden _crack _made the Sinister Blade and Might of Demacia brandish their weapons and gaze around the room. The only one unfazed was the Judge. "What the hell was that?" yelled Katarina to Elias. He remained silent before pulling a long, sharp object from the frame of his window. "I believe Draven has just challenged me." he replies in a nonchalant tone, one that is obviously hiding his own contained anger. Elias shows the Noxian the blade that was thrown which causes her to growl quietly. "That gods-dammed, no brained, ignorant asshole!" Katarina screeched with venom in every word.

Before Garen could reach out and grab her, she used her Shunpo technique to try and assassinate the cocky Noxian below. While she did that however, Elias summoned a black murky portal and reached through it, and seemed to struggle with something inside of it. In a brief tug-of-war, the Judge managed to pull a confused Katarina by the leg through the void he created and threw her at an equally stunned Garen. The large Demacian quickly caught his wife in his arms and stares at his younger friend. "I just did the same thing I do to summon my scythe, except on a larger scale. Catching her while she was using her Shunpo... well I only managed to do that when the moment she came out of it." he quickly tells the two dazed champions. They looked at each other then merely nodded numbly at the Judge. "Man you're just full of surprises aren't you?" Katarina says with a smirk on her face.

Elias' face softens into a smile and shakes his head, "I'll go report this to Swain and Jarvan, as I'm sure both of them will enjoy watching Draven being knocked down a few notches. Then I'll go talk to the dickhead myself for when he want's to get his ass beaten by me." This causes the assassin to frown slightly and placed a hand on her hip. "Swain is in Noxus right now. You won't make it there without a summoner transporting you or by horseback; but even that would take a while." she tells the teen. The Judge's face shifts into a wider grin and shakes his head again, "You let me worry about that. You two go ahead and have dinner." Before the two could object, the raven-haired teen summons another portal onto the wall and walks through it, leaving the couple alone in his room.

* * *

When Elias arrived in the Noxian High Command building's entrance, he was met with a number of furious guards that had their blades pointed at him. "Who are you and how did you manage to infiltrate this building?!" barked one of the guards. The Judge pushed away the guard's blade and looked him directly in the eyes, "I am the independent champion Elias Slade, otherwise known as the Judge of the Fallen. I have come here today to talk to Grand General Swain about a matter that is for his ears only." The soldiers shuffled in silence, muttering to each other about whether or not the teen before them was truly a champion. However a few moments later, Swain came through the main door with an astonished look on his face.

"Judge," he says with a short nod of his head, "What brings you here to the Noxian High Command?" then questions the general. The teen takes a step forward only to have the ends of spears pointed at him once again. "Stand down men! He is a champion of the League and will not be harmed. This is an order from not only myself, but the rules of the Institute of War itself." Swain barks to his troops. Without a second to question their leader, the soldiers put down their spears and allowed the Judge to pass. Elias then points towards the inside of the building to which the Master Tactician nods and leads them inside. Once the two were inside of his office, the elder Noxian stared at the teen puzzled.

"I have two questions. The first being what you are doing here in Noxus of all places, and the second being how did you get here so quickly from the Institute?" Swain asks while sitting down at his desk. The raven-haired teen sits in front of the general and cross his arms across his chest. "To answer your first question: I am here to tell you about Draven challenging me to a one-on-one fight and you possibly taking enjoyment in watching him suffer defeat. As for the second one... well it is just easier to show you." he says with a grin across his face. The Grand General is both slightly confused and agitated at what the teen before him has told him, but nonetheless he waved his hand allowing the Judge to demonstrate.

With a short bow Elias summons one of his portals from nothingness, stepping through it and disappearing along with the portal. When the portal reemerged in Swain's office, Elias walked through it carrying a very familiar gauntlet. "Is that the Prodigal Explorer's gauntlet?" the Noxian asks astonished. The Judge nods with a smile on his face before throwing the gauntlet back into the portal. "Thankfully Ezreal is not one of the people who absolutely despises me so getting his gauntlet was fairly simple to do." sighs the teen. Swain softly strokes the covered part of his chin while nodding his head, "Yes I have heard about the... uneasiness of the other champions as of late. Draven has increasingly become more of a problem lately and should indeed be put in his place."

The Judge nodded in agreement and rested his head on his fist. "So will it be ok if I go through with his challenge?" he asks the elder Noxian. A few moments passed before Swain finally gave the ok to accept Draven's challenge. "Just don't humiliate him to the point where he goes and kills himself understood?" the general ads. Elias gives a brief nod before flicking out his hand, causing a dark abyss to form on the wall behind him. "Well I best be on my way. I have a little pyromaniac to take care of, and at this time she's probably hungry." the young champion chuckles to himself. The elder of the two simply waves goodbye as the teen walks into the portal and disappears from the room.

* * *

Elias' day was quite the interesting one. It went from taking a favor from a newfound friend, to being challenged to a one-on-one by an arrogant champion, then appearing in one of the most highly guarded places in all of Runeterra, and finally appearing in his room to be tackled to the ground by a blur of magenta and pink. "Eli!" happily cheers Annie at her step-brother's return. The Judge laughs loudly and ruffles her already messy hair while putting on the biggest smile on his face, "Good to see you too little one."

The child slipped off of the teen and went back to sitting on the bed. "So where did you go big brother?" questions the little pyromancer. "I went to talk to Mister Swain in Noxus about Draven." he replies. Hearing Draven's name made the little girl visibly flinch and caused her to cling to Elias' arm. "I don't like him. He's a big fat meanie that was mean to Rivey today." she quietly tells him. A small spark of rage came across the Judge at hearing her say that. "Annie what happened?" he asks her behind gritted teeth. She looks down at Tibbers and hugs the stuffed bear as tightly as she could, "He kept saying bad things about her in our match today and we ended up losing."

"Well what did Riven do afterwards?" he asks while softly messing with her hair. "She was going to hit him with her sword but Mister Jax stopped her before she could." the child responds. The Judge sighs and continues to twirl her magenta hair between his fingers, "Well at least Jax of all people stopped her otherwise that would have gotten bloody." Annie nods in agreement while still clutching her stuffed bear. "So what do you want for dinner?" Elias asks the little girl. Just as she was about to give her answer, Riven stepped through the door with a look of anger in her eyes and her sword clenched in her hand.

"Elias..." softly whispered the white-haired woman, her eyes now showing hurt and pain in them. The Judge straightened up and told the magenta sorceress to wait outside while he braced himself to deal with his friend's outburst. Instead of being yelled at by Riven, she instead sat next to him and hugged him tightly. "Riven are you okay?" asks a concerned Elias. When they first met, the Exile was prone to hugging the teen whenever she was deeply troubled or upset, but she toned it down in the recent months so this was unusual. "It was Draven. He... mentioned something from my past that I am ashamed of doing. I tried to forget what happened but..." she says quivering in her seat.

The male champion looked at his friend and shook his head, recalling all of the events of the day. "I'll be sure to kick his ass tomorrow alright? That prick deserves to be knocked down a few hundred notches." he said with a grin on his face. This caused the white-haired champion to crack a small smile for a moment before switching back to her depressed state. Sighing, the Judge puts a reassuring arm around Riven and rubs her arm, "I know that what happened in Ionia scarred you both mentally and... physically, but you need to try to overcome it. Only then will you be able to stand up again on your own two feet."

The two sat there in silence before she finally sat up straight and took in a deep breath. "You're right Elias. I need to just accept my demons and get over it." the Exile finally says. The younger of the two champions smiles at his friend's determination and pats her on the back, "Glad I could be of help." After they finished talking, Elias called back in Annie who promptly sat between the two older champions. "So back to dinner. What did you want to eat Annie?" asks the Judge with a smile on his face. She pondered for a moment before finally choosing what she wanted to go to Gragas' restaurant and bar, the Explosive Cask, which was a favorite of hers. An unanimous agreement was made between the three champions and they headed off towards the restaurant.

On their way to Gragas' establishment, the trio ran into Katarina and Garen who they found was looking for Elias. "We were actually sent to find you and get a table for everyone." says the redheaded assassin. "Wait why?" questions the Judge. "Well not everyone but Ezreal, Lux, and the Prince will be meeting us at the Cask to sort of reward you for your valiant deeds a couple of weeks ago!" proudly replies Garen. This caused the teen to form a slight blush on his face which led to Riven and Katarina snickering at him. He rubs the back of his head and stands there somewhat dumbfounded, "Well I just did what was right you know?" The Might of Demacia let out a hardy chuckle and slapped the Judge on the back, causing him to lose his balance for a moment and another chuckle from the Exile and assassin.

"Well since we all found each other this works out great! The others should be joining us soon so let us be off to the place shall we!" says the Demacian with a proud smile on his face and his wife's hand in his. Once the group of champions got tot he bar, they met up with the other party that was to accompany them. As he was about to enter the bar, a burly figure knocks Elias to the ground, causing him to give out a cry of discomfort. Jumping back up and brushing himself off, he turns to the figure and holds out a hand. "Sorry about that." he tells the person. Instead of accepting the apologetic hand the figure instead smacked it away, "I don't need a wimp like yer tellin' me yer sorry." When the Judge saw who it was, it was revealed to be a very angry Gangplank.

"Sorry about that Gangplank. I didn't see you." Elias sheepishly replies. The pirate grunts in displeasure and knocks him to the side before walking away. "The hell was his problem?" Lux says, stomping her foot on the ground. "Eh, he was probably drunk. Don't mind him Elias." Ezreal says to the Judge. With a shrug they all enter the bar. When they entered, silence fell upon the usually lively establishment. Cold glares and sneers were plastered on the faces of the champions who occupied it. "Right this way." says the waitress as she directs the champions towards a corner stall. After they are seated, the chatter resumes but at a quieter volume than before.

The group was seated at one of the large booths located in the corner of the building. A waitress then comes by and takes their drink orders, then walks off to collect their drinks. While they waited for their drinks to arrive, Lux and Ezreal began to chat about ancient magic, Jarvan asked Katarina how Garen and her were doing, leaving Riven to listen to Annie's excited chatter about what she learned in school the other day. Elias was deep in thought which caused him to stare blankly at the people in front of him, and become completely oblivious to what was going on around him. His attention was soon snapped back into focus when Annie started tugging on his sleeve relentlessly.

"Hm? Oh sorry I spaced out. What is it Annie?" he asks the little girl. She nervously fidgets before she points towards the rest of the champions in front of them. They all had defensive looks on their faces as if someone was about to attack them. The Judge was confused for a moment before he saw Draven near the front of the restaurant flaunting about his deeds as if he was some kind of hero. "Just ignore him and enjoy ourselves guys. He's not stupid enough to cause any trouble after the lashing Swain gave him." the teen tells his friends. They all looked at him strangely before reluctantly agreeing and continued with their original chatter.

Soon after the waitress came back and gave the group their drinks, she took their orders and left the group of champions to themselves again. A few more minutes passed by before obnoxious laughter was heard across the building. Everyone at the Judge's table knew who it was and decided just to ignore him... until he started spewing slander about the people at the table. Draven was purposely saying things about how Jarvan was a lousy prince, Garen was just a big meat-head that didn't deserve to be anywhere near Katarina, and how Ezreal was supposedly gay and that his being with Lux was just a publicity stunt. Elias was going to restrain himself from breaking the Noxian's jaw, until he started to talk about Riven and Annie.

"And that Exile chick and the little girl. I bet he uses those two as some kind of personal toys since they are always with him. Hell I think he maybe even fucks the both of them just for the hell of it!" the Executioner arrogantly laughs. Other insults were said about the two champions that were closest to him which sparked something that could be classified as pure rage. Elias then abruptly stood up and furiously stomped over towards the Noxian, his fists bawled and teeth clenched. "Draven. I suggest you cease talking unless you want more than your face broken." angrily growled the young champion. The older champion shows no sign of fear and puts on the most cocky grin he could muster, "Cease what? I'm just saying the truth abou-"

But before the Noxian could finish his sentence, the Judge grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him through the doors of Gragas' bar. The Executioner hit the ground with a loud thud and was shocked by the raven-haired teen's sudden display of force. Champions at the bar followed Elias outside as he summoned his scythe before the man in front of him, "You wanted a one on one correct? So lets get it over with now why don't we? Unless you are too much of a coward to fight a kid like me." Being called a coward caused Draven to become enraged and caused him to draw his dual axes from his back. "Alright kid. Lets go!" the Executioner yelled, starting the fight by throwing one of his axes.

The Judge effortlessly blocked the axe with his scythe and retaliated by slicing the air around him, generating a visible shockwave of energy that flew at the other champion. Draven, as cocky as he is, was quite agile himself as he plainly dodged the shockwave of energy. The two continued to exchange blows at amazing speed, neither of them seeing to be slowing down. Elias continued to fire off shockwaves while constantly getting close to land blows onto Draven, while he was constantly missing his throws. After landing a few more hits on the Executioner, he did something unexpected: Draven switched to hand-to-hand combat.

Instead of throwing his axes like normal, the Executioner was jabbing and slicing with his axes as opposed to normally throwing them. This caught his opponent as well as the other champions watching them off guard at his sudden change in fighting style. Elias slowly started to lose his edge on the fight as Draven was quicker and more agile with his short axes compared to the teen's long scythe. _"This is gonna end badly for me if this keeps up the way it does." _Elias says to himself. After managing to throw the Glorious Executioner behind him using his Death's Grasp ability, the Judge planted his scythe into the ground and began murmuring words to himself.

Just as Draven recovered, he was knocked down again by a fog of darkness that suddenly appeared. When the Noxian looked up towards where his opponent, all he could see was a figure clad in a shroud of black and a skeletal mask that covered parts of his face. The person before him looked down upon the Noxian champion with a cold expression on his face, "You made me use my ultimate Draven. How does it feel to know you are in the presence of Death itself?" Fear suddenly overcame the Executioner. Pure, absolute, fear.

"What's wrong Draven? Suddenly lost your nerve?" taunts the Judge. This caused the Executioner to snap out his daze and continue his assault on his opponent. However, the fight had a drastic turn since the Judge's transformation. Elias was now faster and stronger than before and was landing blows quicker than Draven could dodge. Draven then started to throw his axes sloppily from the sudden power boost the teen had gained. The two continued to fight each other but the victor was clearly won, and the Noxian despised losing. He had to do something that could be a way to get Elias back for losing, and Draven saw the perfect opportunity before him.

The Executioner slowly began backing up away from the group of other champions, slowly luring the Judge away from them as well. Once he was a good distance away, Draven took a familiar stance and an evil grin came across his face. In a swift motion, he let his axes fly forward at an amazing speed towards the person at the front of the group: Annie. Elias saw the blades trajectory and quickly rushed to intercept the blades but found he could not catch up. Over where the group of champions were Katarina stood there astonished. "Doesn't that idiot have a brain!" she yells angrily. She notices where the blades are headed and quickly tries to make her way over there.

However she stops in her tracks at when her husband stops her in her tracks and points towards the teen. Elias flicks his hand towards the group and summons a portal in front of them. He then quickly waves his other hand behind him and summons another portal. The blades are sucked into the first portal, their target was now averted. Then it closed quickly and the Judge stops in his tracks. Behind him though, a loud thud accompanied by a groan was heard. The portal created earlier was positioned behind Draven, who unfortunately found himself with his own blades embedded in his back. The crowd of champions erupted into roars of applause and cheers at the victory.

Annie was about to run towards him but Elias put his hand up for her to stop. The Judge then heads over to his defeated foe and murmurs a few words to him, earning a shocked face from him. He then stands up from the ground and stares at the cheering champions residing outside of the bar. The teen then walks over to them and reverts back to his normal form. He then stands up straight and looks all of them directly with a look of someone who had made up their mind. "I have something I need to say so everyone please listen," he starts, "Given the events of what has happened in the past few months, and the champions that are a bit uneasy because of me, I think it is best that I take a leave from the League starting now."

Some of the inhabitants of the bar looked at him with confusion, but most of them had shock written on their faces. "Wait what do you mean?" Riven says in disbelief. The black-haired teen faces towards his friend with an sad and distant expression. "I mean what I said Riven. I'm taking a break from the League." he replies.

His words caused a small gasp to come out of his friends as well as some other champions mouths. "Elias what are you-" Ezreal started to speak but was cut off by Elias's hand. "I'm done for now Ez. I just... need some time to away from all of this" With those as his parting words, the Judge waves his hand, summoning a portal, and walks through it without another word. Riven had made an attempt to jump through the murky portal but found her arm caught by Katarina. "Just let him go Riven. I'm sure he'll be back to normal soon. This was bound to happen eventually" the redheaded assassin told her. She was going to retaliate and go after him but remained where she was and sighed in defeat.

* * *

_somewhere familiar..._

It was snowing when he first appeared. At first the Judge thought he whisked himself away to the Freljord but was put into a state of shock instead. He was standing upon a a pier that was staring over the ocean, and noticed a very familiar object in the distance. At first he thought it was impossible that what he was seeing was true but after making sure he wasn't hallucinating he stood there breathless. The object that stood miles away was one from his world: The Statue of Liberty. "What the hell?" Elias breathed in disbelief. "I... I'm home..."


	14. Chapter 14: Under Attack

**_AN: _**_Here's the next chapter. The next one should be up in about two-ish days, and fair warning: the second one will be kind of gory and explicit so... I warned ya. Also I may rename the story to a better one as I think the original title seems kind of lame, but I will debate on that for a while. Until next time my readers._

* * *

Chapter 14: Under Attack

The League was thrown into disarray when Elias had been missing for a week. He seemingly disappeared off the face of the world without even the slightest trace of him. Head Summoner Maxis was forced to order the closure of all League matches until the Judge was found due to many of the other summoners losing a favored champion. This of course angered numerous champions that were enjoying their regular matches, but they were powerless to do anything. The people of Valoran were also losing interest in the matches since its popular new champion had gone missing. Of course the ones most affected were the teen's close friends.

Garen was spending most of his time trying to calm down his restless sister who was searching everywhere around Demacia, constantly going nights without sleep looking for their friend. Ezreal took time off from his museum job to scour the areas around Piltover and Zaun in search of the missing champion, even visiting the Freljord to ask his uncle if he has seen him. Katarina managed to convince her adoptive brother to help her scout around Noxian territories to find the Judge but could not find anything. None of the parties involved could find him for two weeks that he went missing which only made them worry more. Out of all of the friends, the ones most affected were Riven and Annie. The most revered champion that came into this world only met six months ago was missing, and no one could find him.

The Dark Child refused to leave the Judge's room and spent most of her nights crying over the disappearance of her brother. Riven would do the same, except she wouldn't cry, would rarely rest, and would barely eat. Most of the time she would just sit in the seat near the balcony and stare blankly at the sky till she passed out from exhaustion. This started to concern the summoners and champions, namely the supports, to the point where they needed something to return these two to normal. Head Summoner Maxis decided to release the Ultra Rapid Fire tournament once again in hopes that it would cheer up the two downcast champions. It worked for a little while as the two were some of the most played champions in the tournament, but they slowly lost interest in it and retired in the middle of the week. The League had seen this as a defeat on their end to help alleviate the pain from the two champions. To make matters worse, an unexpected event occurred in the Judge's absence; one that would bring about one of the greatest conflicts Runeterra has ever seen.

A large_ BOOM!_ was heard in the Institute of War which shook the entire building. "What in the blue blazes was that?! exclaimed Head Summoner Maxis from his desk. He stands up from his desk and walks over towards the window, only to be shocked at what was going on outside. Volleys of arcane energy came hailing down upon the Institute, leaving craters of crackling energy where they made contact. Maxis scoured around the area and noticed something in the distance that made his very being shudder in fear: Xerath was leading an army of unknown entities towards the Institute of War, and at the head of it was Renekton, the corrupted brother of Nasus. Without a moment to lose, the Head Summoner began to broadcast a city-wide message.

"This is an emergency. All civilians are to evacuate to the underground bunkers immediately! Any Champions left in the area are to report to the Institute's central terrace at once!" Once his message was delivered, the entire city began to evacuate. Hordes of people began to fill into the underground bunkers that were created in case of an attack on the Institute of War. As this happened however, Xerath began to target the fleeing civilians with his Arcane Barrage. Orbs of blue energy began raining down on the unsuspecting people and vaporized anyone hit by them. The unfortunate souls that were hit by this power were turned to dust as the power-hungry champion laughed manically at the destruction before him. Xerath then began to charge his power for another Arcane Barrage, this to be more powerful than the last.

Once he was charged up, the Magus Ascendant unleashed another unrelenting barrage of magic down onto the city. Blue firebolts crashed into the buildings and the landscape, covering them all in an azure flame. An unsuspecting family that was about to enter the bunker entrance as one of these bolts of energy was about to crash into them. The parents attempted to shield their children, but they all knew that their end was near. However, they were saved by a white force field created by an orb that was circling around them slowly. When the parents looked up, they saw a mechanical woman staring down at them with her hand pointed towards them. The machine then flicked her wrist towards her and the orb flew to her side, earning a look of awe and shock from the family. "You must evacuate. The Ball and I will make sure that you are safe." she said in a very mechanical voice. Nodding, the family understood and quickly made their way down the steps of the bunker.

"Orianna!" yelled a voice. The mechanical woman turned around to see Ezreal running towards her with a furry, blonde Yordle on his shoulder that was throwing down little capsules behind them. "Hello Ezreal and Heimerdinger." she replies with a curtsy. The Prodigal Explorer nods at her while the small creature on his shoulder started fiddling with something that looked like a remote. "You need to get to the Institute right away. The League will nee-" Ezreal said before getting cut off my Heimer's hand. "No Ezreal, you go the terrace. Orianna and I will continue setting up defenses around the city." the inventor sternly told him. The young man nodded at his mentor and ran off towards the central terrace.

While the Explorer ran off, another ball of energy was coming towards the two champions. "Ah Orianna. Let me see your ball real quick." the inventor waved at her. At first the mechanical woman was reluctant to hand over her precious ball, but her mind changed when she knew how technologically savvy Heimerdinger was and ordered the ball go to the Yordle's hands. Once in his hands, the tiny inventor started fiddling with the mechanical ball. After a few moments of opening it up, pulling some wires out, and adding somethings to the inside, Heimer gave back the ball to the Lady of Clockwork. She examined to see what the inventor had changed about her beloved ball, but could not find a thing wrong, or even different about it.

Her protectiveness over her partner caused the old Yordle to chuckle to himself, "It is perfectly fine Orianna. I merely upgraded its defensive capabilities so that it would be more of use to us." The mechanical woman cocked her head to the side before giving an appreciative nod. Once that was settled the two champions began running all around the city, Orianna protecting Heimerdinger from Xerath's assault as he set down his turrets while they moved around. The mechanized woman was surprised how quickly the tiny Yordle managed to modify her Ball to have a larger shield that was much more durable than the original one. After a full circle of the city, the inventor pulled out a remote and waved for Orianna to give him her Ball. She quickly gave the small Yordle the ball and waited for him to do something. "This should be interesting." said Heimer as he pushed a button on the remote.

In an instant, all of the turrets came to life and the Ball's shield exploded around them, covering the entire city with a protective barrier. As that happened, the remaining volley's of energy were shot down by the turrets placed around the city. This caused Xerath to end his assault and call back his troops, much to Renekton's displeasure. "Eureka! It actually worked!" exclaimed Heimerdinger. His plan had worked successfully: the entire city now had its own working defense system. Orianna stood there in what could be described as awe since she could not experience emotions at all. "If the Ball is protecting the city, then what will protect me?" questions the Lady of Clockwork. The Revered Inventor gave a grin before going back to his remote, "Your ball will only temporarily acting as the city's shield. I'll figure something else out for the long term." She nodded and went back to staring around the city. "We should make our way towards the terrace now Heimerdinger. I am certain that the others are worried about us." Orianna tells the Yordle. He gives a nod of understanding and the two start for the central terrace inside of the Institute of War.

* * *

"They're finally here!" exclaims Ezreal. The group of champions gain a look of relief on their faces when their fellow champions arrived unharmed. Once Heimerdinger and Orianna join the rest of the champions, Head Summoner Maxis begins speaking. "Thank you for joining me here today. As you all have noticed, we are now under the attack of Xerath and his army led by Renekton. I can only assume that this attack will not be the last one. So as my duty of Head Summoner, I hereby order each of you here, and the other champions from your hometown, to provide some type of service in the defense of the Institute of War. If the Institute falls, then so does the League, and the rest of Valoran." Maxis finishes solemnly.

The group of champions sit there and whisper among one another. Jarvan was the first to stand and face the Head Summoner, "Demacia will help defend the League of Legends at all costs. You have our full support." "Well if they will help out, then so will Noxus. I'm sure Swain would have no issue in this matter." Katarina adds. This earns a smile from her husband, as well as the Prince. "Piltover will pool its resources into protecting the Institute and the League." says Ezreal while earning an approving nod from Heimerdinger. "I hate to say it, but I will also help." said a figure in the shadows. When they stepped forward, it was revealed to be Viktor, The Machine Herald.

Ezreal flashed a scowl on his face when the Zaunite showed his mechanical self. "Ah, the young explorer. Of course you would oppose of my helping." chastised Viktor. The blonde Piltovian charged his gauntlet and was about to point it at the mechanical man, but a large metal hand pushed down it down. "Easy there blonde boy. I don't want to have to put you down." Vi said with her signature smirk. He grudgingly agreed to stand down as he knew how badly Vi could beat down someone. "I thank you all for your support. We will continue the fortification of the Institute as the weeks go on. Hopefully by the end of the month the entire city will be safe once again." announces Maxis.

With that the champions dispersed to head back to their homelands, each talking about what they can do to protect the city. When they were all gone, Maxis began walking back to his office but was stopped by someone. "Ah Riven. I assume you secured Annie in your room?" asks the elder man. She gives a small nod before speaking, "Head Summoner, there is a... matter I wish to speak to you about. In private." He looked at her curiously before waving at her to follow him. "Let us head to my office then." Maxis says before walking to his office.

On the way there it was quiet between them, which began to unnerve the Head Summoner on what she wished to speak about in private. Once they got to the office, the two walked inside, and Maxis sealed off the room so that they were completely in secret. "So tell me what is troubling you Riven." Maxis says while taking a seat, also offering her a seat as well. The Exile took the seat across from her and fidgeted in her seat, something clearly gnawing at her. "There is a question I must ask you... regarding Elias. I know this is not the correct time to talk about things like this but its something I have to ask." Riven spoke quietly. This caused the elder summoner to lean forward in his seat and stare at her, "Go on."

"Is it possible that the reason we can't find him, is that he is no longer in our world anymore?" she asks. Maxis took a second to think about what the woman before him has just said. "Perhaps it is a possibility. However for him to be able to traverse realms like that would require an immense amount of power. If he indeed managed to travel back to his world, there would be very little we could do to find him." the elder man finished. Riven's face turned into one of defeat as she learned that her theory was perhaps right. "I am sorry, but the only ones who would be able to know about travel of this caliber would be Kassadin or Malzahar; and I unfortunately do not have the whereabouts of the Void Walker, as he would be the easier one to talk to." he finished with a sad look on his face.

The white-haired woman looked down with the look of defeat clearly on her face. "Do you think he'll ever come back?" whispers a now trembling Riven. "I... do not know. But knowing him, I doubt he would leave his new found friends here willingly. I'm sure he will show up eventually." Maxis replies while dispelling the room. The elder summoner then rises from his seat as well as the Exile. He leads her over to the door and then leads her outside, "I know this will be difficult, but Elias will return. We just have to wait. Oh and another thing, I would like for you and Annie to meet Ezreal down in Piltover tomorrow. I believe he has something for you both." Riven nods with a somber smile on her face as she heads back to her-no, Elias' room. She could not bear to call her friend's room her own just because he was missing.

Once she had gotten back to the room, Riven noticed that Annie was curled up in a ball under the covers, clutching Tibbers in her arms. She smiled at the fact that at least one of them could sleep after what happened today. After putting her armor and sword away, the silver-haired woman decided to take a shower to try and relax herself. The first few minutes were indeed blissful as she felt some of the stress just melt away from her body. Water poured from the shower head and helped Riven ease her mind on the things that have happened over the past couple of weeks. However, things from her past started to creep into her mind. Flashes of the invasion of Ionia began to pop into her head. Various images of villagers and soldiers alike screaming in agony from Singed's poison, the thousands of innocent people slain due to Noxus' campaign to conquer the peaceful nation, and the killing of a widely respected Ionian Elder, all came back to her as vivid as they happened.

The Exile moves her hand across scar that ran from under her breast down to her hip, a constant reminder of the things of what had been done during the Ionian invasion. She then ran her hands across the remnants of the chemical burns that were scattered across her arms and legs, the phantom pains of them then causing her to quickly fall to her knees. Riven sat there motionless for what seemed to be hours to her, the water crashing down over her head and body. After a while, she pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face into her legs.

"Elias... please come back. We all need you... I need you..." whimpers a now crying Riven. The snow-haired woman had never realized how much she depended upon the Judge to be an emotional anchor for her. With him gone she felt alone, drifting in an endless sea of pain and confusion. After a few more moments to calm herself down, the Exile finally exited the shower, put on her black and white blouse with a pair of shorts, and crawled into bed with Annie. Seconds, minutes, and eventually an hour finally pass before Riven finally gives in and falls asleep.

* * *

When Riven finally woke up it was already noon. She groggily looked around the room and noticed that Annie was still asleep and curled against her. Smiling, she gently stroked the child's magenta hair which caused her to stir in her sleep. After a few more moments, the child slowly opened her eyes and yawned loudly. "G'morning Rivey..." the pink-haired child drowsily said. Annie yawned again and slowly rose from underneath the covers, stretching like a cat as she did so. "Hey come on little one. We have to get up and go see Ezreal down in Piltover." Riven tells her. The magenta-haired girl nodded sleepily and got out of bed to get ready. The Exile did the same thing, but albeit at a much quicker pace. Once the two were ready to go, they headed towards the teleport gates which allow instant travel to cities from the Institute of War.

After the gate was activated, the two champions walked through it and disappeared from the room. When they reappeared, they had arrived in the city of Piltover. "Riven! You finally made it." greets Ezreal as he approaches the two champions. The Exile waves at him while Annie stands there in shock at all of the techmaturgical machines flying and dashing around the city. Laughing, the blonde champion smiles and looks over at the child, "I'm guessing its your first time here in Piltover isn't it?" She nods and an looks at him in excitement, "Everything is so cool here! The city looks a lot like Blitzy." The Explorer looks over at Riven for an explanation for Blitzcrank's name to see her just shrug. "She likes to add 'y' to the end of people she likes name."

The Explorer nodded in understanding and led the two towards the museum where he worked at. When they arrived at the museum, all three champions were greeted with a large explosion blowing down the doors. "JINX YOU LITTLE BITCH!" screamed a female voice inside. A blue-haired teenager, in quite revealing clothing, leaped out of the smoke and turned to face the museum. "Catch me if you can Fat Hands!" the teen yelled back while flipping up her middle finger. Just as she did that however, a pink-haired woman with massive gauntlets came dashing out of the smoke towards the one called Jinx. Vi's usual outfit was shredded to pieces and parts of her bubblegum hair were singed off. During this the other three champions stood there in shock at what was going on around them.

Jinx managed to slip out of the enforcer's path and started to run off down the streets. "Dammit Cait, shoot the damn brat already!" Vi yelled to the building. Caitlyn was inside of the building, revving up a shot with her sniper rifle. "In my sights..." whispered the Sheriff. A red laser appeared on the back of Jinx's leg as the rifle was ready to take the shot. Seconds later, the trigger was pulled and the sniper round flew through the air, making a large cracking sound as it did so. The Loose Cannon however was prepared for this and took out her zap pistol, aimed carefully, and shot the sniper round out of the air. "Not this time Hat Lady!" she cheerfully said before running out of sight.

Vi screamed in rage as she punched the ground beneath her, "Every time! She gets away every time!" Caitlyn walked over to her friend/deputy and placed a friendly hand on her shoulder. "Calm down love. We'll get her eventually." said the Sheriff to calm her down. The Enforcer sighs wearily and looks down at her tattered clothes, "Aww man. This was my favorite outfit too." This caused her partner to chuckle softly at her remark. "You wear the same outfit every day. I think you'll be fine Vi." Caitlyn teased playfully.

As the two policewomen got back up they notice the three other champions standing there with their jaws open. "Oh Ezreal. Sorry about the whole mess at the museum. We got a tip on a criminal that was going to hit the place sometime to day. Didn't think we would run into that lunatic Jinx here at all." explained Caitlyn. The Explorer should have been furious at the Vi and Jinx's reckless behavior for wrecking the door to the museum, but this was somewhat commonplace so he did not mind. "Please tell me nothing was stolen." questions the blonde champion with a serious look.

"Everything is right where it was Blondie. Isn't that right cupcake?" Vi says to her partner. The Sheriff gives a reassuring nod before gesturing into the building, "We could do another once over if you want." Ezreal sighs and puts up his hand, "No it's fine. I trust you two. "Right then. Well come along Vi, we have some paperwork to do back at the station. Oh and we'll pay for the damages Ezreal. See you all later!" Caitlyn tells the group before heading out with her partner. Once they had left, the Explorer takes Annie and Riven inside of the museum, leaving the remains of the destroyed door outside.

Once inside, the Explorer leads them around the various sites around the museum. He points out numerous historical artifacts from ancient civilizations, some of the first advances in techmaturgy, and finally the statue of a fierce looking warrior. "All of this is amazing." said Annie and Riven in unison. This caused him to chuckle a bit and cross his arms across his chest. "I brought you guys here for a different reason though. I'll take you to my office to show you something I think might be useful in figuring out what happened to Elias." Both of their heads snapped towards the blonde champion and stared at him intensely.

"Really?!" excitedly asks Annie. He nods with a smile on his face and leads them both to his office, the Exile and child's excitement growing. When they went inside of his office the two female champions noticed how messy the place was. Ancient documents scattered around the place, various artifacts just lying on the ground and shelves, and some other odd items that were stacked on the bookshelves. The only 'neat' area that was in the office was the Explorer's desk, and on top of it was a case that held a small rectangular item inside of it.

"What is that?" asks Riven, something about the item familiar to her. The blonde champion walks over to his desk and lifts up the case to bring it to the other two. "I have no clue what this is, but it definitely is not an ancient ruin. When I analyzed it using Heimer's machines, it was mechanical inside, but on a different level of what we have here in Piltover." he explains. The white-haired woman crosses her arms and looks at him confusedly, "What do you mean 'on a different level'?" Ezreal's eyes light up from excitement and begins to explain. "Yeah, what do you mean Ezy!" says an excited Annie

"Well you know that all techmaturgical devices use magic right? Well this piece of machinery doesn't use magic at all. It uses only electricity to power itself, which is unheard of anywhere in Piltover, or Zaun for that matter. Whatever this is, it is indeed advanced, but advanced in another world's." finishes the blonde man. After a few more moments of looking at the strange device, Riven began to think about where she had seen it before. "What does it do?" asks the snow-haired woman. "I don't have a clue about what it does due to the battery being dead, but I finally managed to charge it enough to perhaps turn it on. Hopefully now we can see what it does." he replies, his excitement growing every second.

The Exile nods as the blonde Piltovian takes the device out of the box, and presses a button located near the top of it. Within seconds of pressing the button the device's screen powered on. An animation played on the glass surface before the screen dimmed a bit. Once the screen had turned back on, the three champions were shocked at what was on it: it was Elias with his arm around a beautiful girl with long, purple hair, the both of them smiling. "I-I knew it..." quietly said Riven. Ezreal and Annie look over at her to see that her hand was covering her mouth. She noticed them and tried to composed herself. "E-Elias showed me this one time when he first came here. He showed me how it works and all of the strange things you could do with it. But I remember he said he lost it before he..." the last couple of words causing her, and Annie, to choke back tears.

"Where did you find this Ezreal?" asks the teary-eyed Riven. He rubbed the back of his head and sighed, "I found it during the match when that damn lizard went on a rampage. I didn't know it was Elias', otherwise I would have returned it." She waved her hand and told the Explorer that it was ok. "Um... I'm sorry if I'm being too pushy, but you wouldn't happen to know how to use this would you?" Ezreal asks. After wiping her eyes, the Exile nodded and gestured over for him to hand her the device. "It's a bit fuzzy... But I think I can still use it." she said after receiving the device. While she started working on the device, Annie decided to look at some of the old books piled around the room to take her mind off of what was going on.

The white-haired woman pressed the side button again and the screen flickered back on. On the screen now was a grid of dots that lit up when you touched them. "Of course it would be password protected. Hold on I can get something that can decipher it." Ezreal scoffed and went to grab some machine off of his desk, but was stopped by the Exile's arm. "No I remember the password... It was something like this." she said while connecting the dots to form an upside-down 'V'. A _click_ sound was made and the device became available to use. "Is there anything else you remember about him using this; I have no clue what it is called." the blonde champion asked Riven. She nods and presses a blue button that looks like an elongated 'U' or 'C', "He would constantly press this button here and put it up to his ear like he was trying to listen to something."

After pressing the blue button, a long list of numbers and names appeared on the screen. "Wait I know what this could be! This is probably a type of telephone used in Elias' world!" exclaimed the Explorer. Riven cocked her head and stared at him confusedly, "Telephone? What is that?" "It is a device that allows long-distance communication to happen. It was created by Heimerdinger a while back, but he was never able to perfect it." Ezreal replies. She nods her head before scrolling through the list more. "I don't get it. If he had this the whole time, why didn't he get in touch with his family back home?" asks the white-haired woman. "Hmm... he probably didn't have a strong enough signal to reach back to his world. That was one of the main problems Heimer was running into when he created his version of the telephone. But the strange thing is, I think it has a strong signal based on those bars at the top." he says while pointing towards the top right hand corner of the screen, a series of bars constantly fluctuating between three and four of them.

"Should we try to use it?" asks Riven, hope starting to come back to her eyes. The Explorer shrugs and takes the device from her hands, "It's worth a shot isn't it?" He scrolled through a few of the contacts listed in the phone and decided to chose the one labeled 'Mom'. Just as he was about to press it though, the phone began ringing. On the screen it said "Unknown Number" with a green and red button on the sides of the words. The blonde looked over at Riven and she nodded, causing him to press the green button. Ezreal put the phone up to his ear and cleared his throat, "Hello?" The other end was quiet and full of static, like someone was there but was not talking.

"Sorry... I dialed the wrong number." said a man's voice on the other side of the phone. Then the call ended, and everything was silent...


	15. Chapter 15: Unknown Allies

_**AN: **There's a bit of French used in this chapter, so the translated bit will be at the very end of the chapter. Also apologies if the translations are wrong as I took them from a translator. Also in case you want to know, Code 10-66 stands for Suspicious Person in one of the "10" codes used by Law Enforcement._

* * *

Chapter 15: Unknown Allies

The two older champions stood there in shock at what had just happened. What happened before them was something they did not expect at all: someone had called Elias' phone. Riven looked over with a shocked face and stared at the Explorer with wide eyes. "Do you think...?" she said in disbelief. Ezreal shrugged because he was not sure that it was who they were both thinking about. "It could have been... But the other person sounded a lot older than him." he told her. Some of the hope she had somewhat faded away, but she still retained some of it.

The silence was broken when Annie tugged on Riven's arm and looked up at her, "I'm getting hungry Rivey." A smile graced her lips, and the white-haired woman ruffled the ten-year old's hair. "Ezreal might know of some places to eat around her. Right?" she says while turning back to the Explorer. A large grin came across his face and nodded, "I'm not called the 'Grandmaster Explorer' for nothing! I know a place right by here that we can go get some grub." The two female champions nodded in agreement and followed the blonde throughout the city.

The Explorer finally chose a place that was widely known throughout Piltover: The Hextech Revolver. It was a weapons themed restaurant that was decorated to look like the item inside of the League. The tables were revolver cylinders held up by the barrel of the gun, everything was green, black, and gold, and there was even a massive replica of the item in the rear of the building that acted as a chimney. Once the hostess got them seated in a booth near the front, the three champions were greeted by a familiar face. "Blondie?" says a female voice. When they all looked up at the person, they saw that it was Caitlyn with an annoyed, gloveless Vi behind her. "Oh hey you two! What brings you here to the Revolver?" asks Ezreal.

"Just grabbing something to eat. Vi over here is upset over not capturing Jinx, so I figured going out for food would cheer her up." the Sheriff said while nudging her brooding partner. The pink-haired woman was standing there with her arms crossed, muttering something like 'Stupid Jinx' under her breath. "Well hey why don't you join us? We'd be happy to have you two." says Ezreal with a smile on his face. Caitlyn looks over to her partner, to which she just shrugs, and gladly takes a seat. Soon after, the waitress comes and takes all of their drink orders before walking off to place them. "So any look in finding that kid?" asks Vi, still bitter about earlier.

Ezreal shakes his head and sighs, "No but something crazy happened. Turns out the device I had in my office was an advanced form of the telephone." "Wait did you just say telephone? You mean the long distance communications device that Heimerdinger is still working on?" asks Caitlyn surprised. He nods and fishes the phone out of his pocket. The Sheriff looks over the phone and slowly becomes amazed with it. "That tiny thing is a telephone? The one Heimer has was at least the size of Jayce's ego." Vi snickers, causing her partner to scoff at her joke. "But the weird thing is someone called it just when we were going to see if it worked." the Explorer continues to tell about what happened earlier.

"Someone else called it? That should be impossible unless Heimerdinger finished it; which is also impossible as he is always tinkering with it." pondered the Sheriff. Silence fell at the table, until a few minutes passed by and the waitress came back with their drinks. "So what can I get you guys?" asks the waitress, pulling out a pad and pen as she does so. As the champions begin to rattle off their orders, Vi noticed someone suspicious emerge from the kitchen. "And Ms. Vi, what do you want?" the waitress asks. Keeping her eye on the person that was now looking around the restaurant, she told the waitress her order, "Yeah can I get a number 10-66, with a side of kitchen please." The waitress looked at her confusedly while Caitlyn was on high alert, scanning the room around until she too saw the suspicious person near the kitchen entrance.

"Ma'am, sorry to alarm you, but I believe that the man over by the kitchen might try and do something rash. So what I would like you to do is just act normally, and do not attract attention to yourself." the Sheriff whispers to the waitress. She nods in understanding and continues to act like normal. Once she was gone, the two law enforcement officers kept an eye on the person lingering around the back of the establishment. "I'll be right back. I gotta go to the bathroom." says Annie, crawling over Riven and Ezreal to get out. "You know what I have to go too. I'll go with you as well. Keep an eye on the man will you?" said Caitlyn, the last bit to her partner. Ezreal looked over at the Sheriff confusedly, until she jabbed her head towards the direction of the unknown male. He gives a small nod before asking Riven about her sword and how it reforges itself.

Caitlyn then takes the child's hand and walks off towards the bathrooms, leaving Vi and Ezreal to watch the person slowly walk around the restaurant. The man notices that Annie and the Sheriff walking to the bathrooms and slowly begins to walk that direction. Vi was about to jump out of her seat until Ezreal placed his gauntlet on her shoulder, "If you jump now he'll run before we learn what he's doing. Play it safe." She tries to object but his grip gets stronger on her shoulder. "Fine. But I will go after him if he makes a move" threatened the Enforcer. The Explorer nods and waits for the other two champions to return.

The Sheriff is the first one out of the doors and patiently waits for the child to exit as well. The Enforcer was watching her partner, until a fan of her's came by and asked for an autograph. She happily obliged as she liked the attention sometimes that she would get for her work as the Piltover Enforcer. When she looked up however, she saw Caitlyn collapse to the ground, and the man taking an unconscious Annie with him. She tried to use her Vault breaker ability to catch up with the kidnapper, but then she realized she did not have her gauntlets on at the time. The man then threw a cylindrical device into the air and quickly exited through the kitchen. The device exploded, releasing a blinding flash that disoriented everyone in the building. Once Vi had recovered she quickly rushed over to her partner's side.

"Cupcake are you alright?! Speak to me Cait!" frantically said the Enforcer, shaking her boss in her arms. As soon as the commotion died down, Riven rushed to their sides and immediately looked over the Sheriff. "She'll be fine Vi. Luckily she was just tased and wasn't shot." tell Riven to her. This caused her to ball her fists in rage and growl slightly, "I'm gonna beat the ever-living shit out of whoever did this. Riven, we had better find this guy." She nodded quickly slowly stood up, never seeing this kind of anger radiate from her before. Ezreal soon came back into the building with his gauntlet charged, "I couldn't follow him the entire way, but he is most likely heading towards the outskirts of town." "Well what are you waiting for? Track the bastard down." weakly says a now conscious Caitlyn. Riven and Ezreal nod before heading towards the outskirts of town.

* * *

_In the alleyways of Piltover..._

"I can't believe I did that!" exclaims the kidnapper. He had not only run away from four champions, but managed to kidnap the fifth one by himself. This job was going to make the criminal rich; and all it took was kidnapping a little girl and dropping her off in the outskirts of the city. It was going well for him as he knew the alleyways quite well and could maneuver throughout them without being caught by anyone. Luckily the taser he brought with him would render the child on his shoulder unconscious, as she groggily woke up a few times. "Just one more block and it's home free." says the criminal to himself.

As he cut the corner however, a bullet crashed into the concrete building next to him, leaving a rather large hole where the impact was. The kidnapper looked behind him to see someone crouched on the rooftop one-hundred feet behind him. What began to worry him was that there was no scope glint at all coming from the rooftop which meant this person was highly skilled with a rifle. When the criminal turned around, he was greeted by a man dressed in a silver, hooded overcoat. "You picked the wrong person to kidnap asshole." spoke the man before driving his fist into the criminal's face, knocking him out instantly.

The newly arrived guest then picked up Annie gingerly in his arms and walked over to the other person who was now on the ground. "You know where to take her. I'll deal with the trash this time." they told the other person. Nodding, the other person took the child into their arms and began to walk back into the city. "And now to deal with you." angrily spoke the silver-clad man. He picked up the kidnapper and slung him over his shoulder, then began to walk towards a nearby manhole. "Time to meet a new friend." the man said before crawling down the hole with his captive on his shoulder.

* * *

Hours had passed before the kidnapper finally awoke from being rendered unconscious. He looked around the room he was in and noticed his limbs were bound to a heavy metal chair. The room also had no windows, a large steel door at the front, and a faint dripping sound could be heard from the corner. Whatever this room looked like, it didn't seem like one he would want to stay in for long. Chatter was heard on the other side of the door before it slowly began to creak open.

"I see you're awake." commented a familiar voice. The man that walks in was followed by a large, disfigured rat creature with a crazed look in his eyes. "Thank you Twitch for letting me borrow your place." he tells the large bipedal mammal. "Anytime my new-found friend. After all you were the one to convince me to leave the Zaun sewers for these ones. I like these ones; tastier trash, nicer smell, and no one trying and kill me! Oh and if those two do come I'll let them in" cheerfully says the rat.

A soft chuckle came from the silver-clad man as Twitch retreated out of the room to scour his new home. The man in the chair was now trembling in his seat, sweat and fear already taking over his body. "Now then. What were you going to do with that little girl?" questions the figure. At first the kidnapper stayed quiet, until the sound if metal scraping against the door was heard. "Alright, alright! I was supposed to take her to some bald Noxian guy so that he could take her to his boss." he fearfully replies. The screeching of metal stopped when the word "Noxian" was said and the figure turned back towards his captive, "bald Noxian? You mean the chemical engineer Singed?"

"Yeah him! I don't know why he wanted the kid but he paid me an absurd amount of gold to do it!" the captive replies quickly. "And do you even know who you attempted to kidnap in the first place?" says the silver man with a tinge of anger in their voice. The man strapped to the chair shook his head frantically, leading the mysterious person to laugh loudly. "Singed didn't even tell you the name of the child you are sent to kidnap? Well let me tell you who she is: Annie Hastur, The Dark Child, and one of the League of Legends youngest and most powerful champions. You would have been better off trying to capture a Yordle with nothing but your bare hands!" furiously yells the silver man while they slam their fist into the captive.

An audible _snap_ was heard, met with a small whimper of pain. The ex-kidnapper's jaw was broken, blood slowly trickling out of his mouth. Then the screeching of metal against the door was heard again which made him visibly flinch at the sound of it. "Now then, another question, and I'm sure you want to hear this one: Why should I let you just waltz out of here and let you live?" said the man, who's face was now in the view of their captive, who was now stunned at the persons face. "Wait, y-you're-" slurred the man in the chair before he was met with another blow to his face, quickly silencing what he was about to say. "Wrong answer." said the person with a wag of their finger.

A sleek, silver revolver with unique etchings was produced out of thin air and pointed at the now sobbing ex-kidnapper. "I want to play a game that is well known where I'm from. It's much similar to a popular form of gambling; except this is version uses a gun and your life, instead of a table and money." the silver man speaks with a cheery tone of voice and a sadistic smile. More whimpering was heard but was swiftly amplified to screaming when the first shot went through the criminal's left kneecap. Another cry of anguish was heard when another round found itself in the other knee. By now the tortured captive was covered in tears, mucus, as well as his own blood.

More faint cries of asking for forgiveness came from the criminal's mouth, but were ignored as the man emptied out his gun, the clatter of casings filling the room. The mysterious man then began to fill his weapon with a fresh batch of bullets, slowly taking his time inserting each of them. He then pointed the revolver back at his captive and pulled the trigger, causing the man in the chair to whimper frightfully at is imminent demise. However instead of ending his life, a click sound came from the gun, and rapid panting came from the figures captive. "Just kidding. You get to die in jail alone and in pain." says the other man while retaining his sadistic smile on his face. The man trapped in the chair feels a rush of relief comes over him as his captor slowly opens the door to the chamber.

Once the door was wide open the gun-wielding man walked through it and looked over his shoulder, his sadistic grin still present. "I was just fuckin' with you." he coldly laughed before unloading the remaining five rounds into his captive's skull, leaving a bloody stump where the head used to be. His face then shifts to a somber one as he puts his weapon into a holster that quickly vanishes from sight. "That's what you get for trying to harm a little girl you piece of shit." says the man to himself before quickly vanishing from the sewage tunnel.

An hour passed by before the Piltover Duo were being lead through the sewers by the Plague Rat. "And the sewage here is much tastier compared to Zaun's. It's like I'm eating a five star meal every day!" happily says the bipedal rodent. The hat-wearing woman was trying to keep her stomach in check while her partner was trying to ease her friend's queasiness. "My word it reeks down here like no other." coughs Caitlyn. This stifles a chuckle from her partner, "Well its the sewer Cait; its supposed to smell like shit." The Sheriff of Piltover glares at her coworker but shifts back to gagging again on the smell. A few more minutes passed before they finally reached the mess of blood and rotting flesh that laid before them.

"Bloody hell!" exclaims Caitlyn as she vomits at the sight and smell if the body. Her partner kneels next to her and softly pats her back to try and ease her queasiness. Vi then looks into the room and shakes her head, "Man I know this guy kidnapped that Annie girl and all, but this is a bit extreme even for someone from Noxus. Who ever did this was skilled and knows how to hold a grudge." The Sheriff was impressed by her friends investigative skills, but didn't say anything due to vomiting again. The Enforcer sighed and hoisted her boss's arm across her shoulder, looking over at the mess that was in the room. "Well I think its best to get you out if here Cait. I'll send by some of the cleanup guys to get this mess cleaned up for old ratface over there." she says while gesturing to Twitch who was now more interested in a floating piece of unidentifiable garbage. The Sheriff weakly nods in agreement and the two began making their way out if the sewers.

* * *

_Above the sewers..._

Once the mysterious man was above ground he was met by a woman with long, silver hair, a single rapier strapped to her back, and a golden musket propped against her shoulder. "D'Artagnan! Que faites-vous ici?!" the figure asks surprised. The woman pushes a strand of her hair behind her ear and crosses her arms across her chest, "Je cherchais pour vous. J'avais peur que vous n'avez pas retourner à la maison." "La merde. J'avais oublié." curses the man. The woman then sighs and shakes her head as she approaches the hooded figure. "Monsieur, je suis désolé de la gêne occasionnée, mais nous devons nous dépêcher de rentrer. La réunion va bientôt commencer." she quickly tells him. He sighs and shakes his head, "Amende. Laissez-nous être éteint puis.". The woman bows slightly before following the figure down the road.

At the mansion, there were now four people there total. The two of them that were there already were seated in the living room in front of a fire place. Both of them were talking to each other until the two other people arrived. "I have returned from the errand I had to run." the silver-clad man tells to the other two people, removing his hood while he did so. He was quite handsome: donning golden eyes, a light stubble, and spiky black hair that looked like it was messed with constantly. "About time kid. I was thinkin' you weren't gonna come back" speaks a deep, monotone voice. "Le fermer, vous vieux assassin. Sauf si vous voulez mon fusil dans votre gorge!" quickly says the woman while pointing her weapon's barrel at the one that just spoke. "Easy there girl. My family isn't called-" "Ze Knife for nothing. I get zat monsieur Du Couteau." interrupts the woman, a thick accent almost identical to Fiora's.

This caused the one called Du Couteau to laugh heartily at her remark, "You sound like that Laurent duelist from Demacia. What was her name again..." "Fiora Laurent, Marcus. One of the finest examples of Demacian pride that is under my rule." speaks the other person. "Aw come on Jarvan. You used to be like this until you had your son." laughed Marcus. "Please, Please gentlemen- and lady. Don't fight right now when we are close to figuring out Xerath's plans." says the silver man. The two elder men look over at the younger one and nod in agreement. "He is right. We must focus on the main issue at hand. Now this is what I have managed to dig up about what his plans." says the King of Demacia while he pulls out a white piece of paper with Demacia's crest on it.

Marcus did the same except his paper was black and had his family crest on it, "Here's what I dug up as well. You know, I'm impressed that you managed to find me kid. How in the hell did you manage that?" Taking the papers, the other man simply shook his head and put the documents in his coat. "That's something for another date." The two elder gentlemen looked at him confusedly but decided that now was not the time to ask about such things. "Well I must head back to Demacia soon. Otherwise the entire city-state will lose themselves over their king disappearing. Farewell Marcus, Ms. D'Artagnan, and my host." Jarvan III says with a bow. The King then made his way out of the mansion, making his way towards a carriage that was waiting for him. Once he was gone and out of sight, General Du Couteau looked over at the other two that were still with him.

"You two are a hell of a pair. You sure you aren't together?" he asks with a grin on his face. D'Art was about to pull out her rapier but was stopped by the silver man's hand, "No we aren't together General. We are strictly business partners." The older General grunted and waved his hand before heading for the door. "Marcus before you go... You know your kids miss you right? They've been searching for you for years." says the man in silver to the Noxian. This caused the old Noxian to stop in his tracks and stand there. "I know that. There's just some things that I had to do without them knowing. Thanks though. I may drop by and say hi one of these days; after all I'm gettin' too old to be sneakin' around this continent for much longer." says Marcus behind him. And like that, The Blade of Noxus vanished into the night.

"Well? What is next monsieur?" asks the white-haired woman, taking a seat in one of the chairs near the fireplace. The man took a seat in the other free chair and stared into the fireplace. A few moments of silence passed between them before the man finally spoke. "I think it's time we pay a visit to the League. Are you ready to fight against other opponents that are as skilled as you?" he tells her. D'Artagnan cracks a wolfish grin and nods, "Of course. Zat would be perfect to test my skills." This causes the silver man to chuckle and shake his head. "Then tomorrow we shall enter the League as champions to try and see what challenges it brings us." he says while staring back into the fire. _Finally headed home...Right where I belong..._

* * *

**Translated parts**

Once the mysterious man was above ground he was met by a woman with long, silver hair, a single rapier strapped to her back, and a golden musket propped against her shoulder. "D'artagnan! What are you doing here?!" the figure asks surprised. The woman pushes a strand of her hair behind her ear and crosses her arms across her chest, "I was looking for you. I was afraid that you did not return to the mansion." "Shit. I forgot about that." curses the man. The woman then sighs and shakes her head as she approaches the hooded figure. "Sir, I am sorry for the inconvenience, but we must hurry back. The meeting will begin soon." she quickly tells him. He sighs and shakes his head, "Fine. Lets be off then." The woman bows slightly before following the figure down the road.

Le fermer, vous vieux assassin. Sauf si vous voulez mon fusil dans votre gorge!- Shut it, you old assassin. Unless you want my gun down your throat!


	16. Chapter 16: Old Friends, New Faces

Chapter 16: Old Friends, New Faces

"Another match? Are they trying to work me to the ground?" sighs an exhausted Riven, staring at the gigantic display of match listings on a large screen in the middle of the Institute. She has already gone through four matches today, winning all of them, but each of them more taxing than the last. "You too huh?" comments Katarina who was covered in sweat from her most recent match. The redhead was also in a number of matches today, so she knew how the snow-haired woman felt. "Well at least our next match is the both of us on the same side right? That'll make for some fun times." grinned the Exile. Replying with a hellish grin of her own, the Sinister Blade nodded and looked up towards the screen to see both of their next victims.

On the screen for the next match was listed the champions for both sides. The Red team consisted of: Katarina, Riven, Sejuani, Lulu, and Lucian. The Blue team was made up of: Gragas, Cassiopeia, Thresh, and two others that the redhead had never seen before. One of them was named D'artagnan, and the other only was labeled "?" on the screen. She looked over at the Exile to which she only shrugged in response. "Maybe it's a glitch in the system? Who knows, it might be someone like Lee Sin or Irelia." Riven says to the assassin. "True, but the main problem is my sister. I know the League tones down how harmful her poison is but... it still brings out some of the phantom pains from a fight we had a while back." Katarina shudders at the thought of her sisters poison coursing through her veins again.

The exiled Noxian nods in agreement as she could still feel a familiar pain as well. Right as they started to look over the other matches, familiar blue rings of light envelop the two of them and they are whisked away to the Rift. Once there, everyone bought their items and headed off towards their respected lanes. Riven headed towards the poisonous frog creature called the "Gromp" to help her jungler out in killing it. The Winter's Claw followed behind and sighed when she caught up with the Exile. "Of course that Avarosan would other team. It seems like only him and I are picked to play in the Jungle as of late." huffed Sejuani, her boar grunting in agreement.

The white-haired swordsman simply nodded in agreement as she did not want to be involved with Frelordian politics, or any politics at all. After a minute had passed, the poison toad emerged from a mushroom and the two champions begin attacking it. Sejuani used Smite to gain a poisonous armor around her that would harm anything in the jungle that attacked her, and the Exile used her Broken Wings ability to help damage the toad as well. Once enough damage has been dealt to the frog Riven took her leave.

Running to lane, she began to slay the first wave of minions for gold and experience, even getting a few hits on the turret. The strange thing was that her lane opponent had not shown up yet, which worried her. Out of the "tri-bush" next to her came out a man dressed in a silver overcoat with a long pole in hand. Riven noticed that while he had taken a bit of damage, he was a level above her and had a gold advantage. Once he saw that she was on top of his tower he immediately went into action.

The man started attacking the Exile with his staff which caused her to flee from the tower so she did not take any more unnecessary damage. Once she was clear of the tower, Riven's opponent started to skillfully execute the minions for their gold. He didn't miss a single one that approached him. A feat that surprised the female swordsman. She had never seen someone with that amount of skill beforehand in her entire career as a champion for the League. What was more surprising was that this new champion seemed to know how her abilities worked.

He would dodge her Broken Wings ability at the right time, and whenever she tried to close a gap between the two he would simply begin to fire a set of hidden pistols rapidly as he spun around in a circle. This caused the Exile to recall before she would be killed by this skilled champion. After a blue flash of light, Riven began to gain her health back and bought a few items with the gold she had earned. Appearing next to her a few moments later was Lucian who's forehead was caked in sweat. "Having some troubles of your own Lucian?" she asked the Purifier with a weak smile. He nodded in response and sighed, "Yeah. I know that D'Art is new and all but damn. She has some skills that are just downright frightening. What about your lane opponent?"

The Exile sighed and fiddled with her blade a bit before answering. "He's tough whoever he is. I've never seen a champion that skilled before in my lifetime of being one. It's insane how strong he is; and I've only seen one of his abilities so far." she says with a slight tinge of adoration in her words. The dark-skinned gunslinger laughed before heading off of the platform, "Well I must return. Good luck to your lane Riven." With that he was off towards bottom lane, and Riven back to her lane. When she got back to her lane, the white-haired woman noticed that her opponent was sitting there as if waiting her to return.

"What, miss me that much?" she said jokingly to the man, attacking the minions as she did so. He chuckled and stood up before going back to attacking the minions, "Just wanted a fair fight. That's all." The two stood there in silence while attacking their minions, each of them slowly building up their gold and experience while they did so. This changed when her opponent hit level six and quickly advanced towards the Exile. At first she didn't know what going on, but then she saw his teammate Gragas coming out from the river to gank. Riven began to dash away using her Broken Wings and Valor abilities, but found herself moving at a greatly reduced rate.

Gragas has thrown his cask of ale underneath her prior which allowed her lane opponent to catch up to her quickly. The silver-clad champion then began spinning rapidly, unleashing a hail of bullets as he did so. This deteriorated the Exile's health at a rapid rate as the bullets continuously struck her. Just as she was going to die though, Riven had made it underneath her tower safely and began recalling. Although this stopped Gragas from continuing further, the man continued his assault under the tower. She simply ran away as she new he would only kill her, but this caused the silver man to retreat himself behind the minions after placing a ward at the edge of the tower's range.

As she approached her second tower, the Exile began recalling while still eyeing the incredibly strong champion before her. Just before the rings closed and she was safe Riven found herself launched high into the air, then slammed down with a great force that rumbled throughout the Rift. _"You have been slain"_ rang through her ears when she hit the ground. _"How in the hell did he do that?! He was on the other side of the tower so he couldn't have..." _Riven thought to herself as she waited to respawn at her fountain. When she appeared onto the fountain, she was greeted by tired looking Katarina sitting there.

"So he killed you huh? How the hell did that happen since you were under the tower right?" the redheaded assassin says to her friend, standing as she did so. "Other side of the damn thing, and no minions to block the shots of it. He just up and appeared on the other side and killed me." the white-haired woman says while picking up the "Caulfield's Warhammer" item from the shopkeeper. The assassin then pats her friend's back and waves as she heads down her lane. After returning to her lane Riven found her tower almost destroyed by her lane opponent; only to find him missing.

She quickly pulled up the minimap and began pinging that he was missing, but it was too late. He was already down in bottom lane and was about to wreak havoc with the other newcomer, D'artagnan, who held a hefty lead of having six kills and zero deaths. As she chopped away at the minions to push towards the enemy tower, the Exile saw the immense skill that these new champions had. The silver-clad man was swiftly jabbing his staff at Lulu, as the female gunslinger fired off rounds of her own towards Lucian. Riven then saw something that caught her eye: her opponent had something attached to the end of the staff that was almost impossible to see.

It looked like it had some type of blade attached to the end of it but she wasn't sure. Just as she had found herself at the Red Team's first top lane tower, the Exile was thrown into the air again and slammed into the ground. Her lane opponent had just appeared from bottom lane, all the way to top lane in a manner of seconds. He then began spinning again in a circle with his pistols and started dealing even more damage to the now fleeing Riven. "How the hell did you do that?!" yells the white-haired swordsman to her attacker. "Magic." he replied in a sarcastic tone. His response caused her to growl and turn back to face the champion.

Riven lifted her foot and drove it into the man's chest, causing him to gasp for air and land violently on the ground. She then approached him slowly as he tried to pick himself up off of the ground. The Exile got to her opponent and planed her knee firmly in the man's chest, eyes glowing with anger. "Alright asshole now yo-" she said before pulling down his hood. Her look shifted from one of immense anger into one of pure shock.

Staring up at here was a pair of light-amber eyes attached to a familiar looking face, accompanied by a cheeky smirk that drained the color from her face. The man wiggles his way from under the platinum-haired swordsman's foot and lifted his hood back over his head. "Wh-what...?" Riven said in disbelief as her opponent began recalling in front of her. Still in shock, she reached out a hand slowly to try and touch the silver-man before her, but he vanished in a flash of blue light before she could. The Exile was left sitting in the middle of the lane before recalling herself. When the Exile had made it to the fountain, she collapsed against the the shopkeeper's large boat and breathed heavily at what had just occurred.

Meanwhile in middle lane, Katarina was starting to lose the fun in constantly killing her sister. Every time Cassiopeia would attempt to attack her elder sibling she would simply use all of her abilities and instantly slay the youngest, much to her displeasure. The score between them was now 8 to 1 with Katarina in the lead. "This is starting to get boring." sighs the redhead assassin to herself while she attacks, and eventually destroys the first middle lane tower. Once that was done she recalled back to her fountain and upon arrival, finding her friend in a near-catatonic state.

"Riven. Hey Riven! What the hell happened?!" the redhead said as she shook her friend. The white-haired woman looked up from her stupor and shook her head furiously. "It's him! I swear it's him on the other team Kat!" the Exile said while gripping onto the assassin's wrists. "Riven you aren't making any sense. Who cou-." Katarina stopped mid sentence. Pulling her arms away, she got the message that her friend was conveying and put on her own look of disbelief. "Are you sure?" the redhead asks seriously. Riven nods with the most serious look she's ever given and points towards her eyes, "Same eyes as him, and he looks the same!"

The Noxian assassin pressed her fist to her chin out of deep thought and finally nodded. "I'll go top and pull off the guy's hood. You bait him out, and I'll knock him to the ground got it?" The ex-Noxian nods in agreement and the two began heading down top lane: Riven down the actual lane, and Katarina through the river pathway.

* * *

_On the Blue Team.._

"Damn it..." cursed the silver-clad man as he approached the shopkeeper and bought his "Blade of the Ruined King" item. He kicked the floor beneath him as a blue pillar of light flashed besides him. D'Artagnan had appeared next to him and flashed a confused look on her face. "What seems to be ze problem monsieur?" she asks while also buying an item from the shop. "Riven saw my face. I'm almost certain she recognized me as well." he says nonchalantly. The gunner's face shifts from one of shock to one of concern, "Well zen, try to not get caught again, monsieur." With that she exited the fountain and headed back towards her lane. He shrugs, "Easier said than done."

* * *

When the hooded champion made it up top lane he noticed a change in his lane opponent. She became a lot more aggressive with her attacks and started to push her opponent towards his tower. Once he was under his tower, Riven then activated her ultimate: Blade of the Exile, and dashed towards the silver-clad champion. The white-haired champion used her Broken Wings ability three times therefore knocking up his opponent, then stunned him using her Ki Burst ability. _Damn. Taking a lot of damage, but so is she... Wait that means! _By the time he had figured out the Exile's plan Katarina had jumped out of the bush and leaped onto him, dealing damage with her Bouncing Blades, Shunpo, and Sinister Steel combo.

The outnumbered champion's health had been depleted below half; but the Exile's health was even lower. "Might as well blow it now," mutters the silver-robed man. With a deep breath he slashes the air with his staff, opening a small void and reaches into his weapon into it. He began pulling it out of the gap and the two female champions soon found out that it was no longer a staff: It was a scythe that looked like it was carved out of a nightmare. It was midnight-black, decorated with an assortment of bones that littered the entire polearm, and a serrated blade.

He then throws the scythe towards Riven. The blade sinks into her shoulder as she cries out in pain, then slumped forward afterwards and planting her sword into the ground. A few moments later she falls onto her face, almost identical to her death animation from the game. Katarina was shocked from what had just happened but was even more shocked from what happened to her opponent. He had regained a portion of his health back and was starting to get back into the fight."Now it is your turn Kat." he said while hiding a playful, yet sinister grin under his hood.

The silver-clad champion then used his Dark Corridor ability and teleported behind the assassin then spun again with his guns, stunning and damaging the redhead. Before she could recover from the attack, the male champion kept auto attacking to deal more damage to the almost-dead Katarina. Once she had recovered from being stunned, the redheaded assassin used her Summoner Flash spell, then placed down a ward on the opposite wall and jumped to it with her Shunpo ability to gain a lot of distance away from her opponent.

Gragas however blocked her advance. He used his Body Slam and slammed into Katarina, both stunning her and dealing damage. He then slams his barrel into her with Drunken Rage and finishes her off. The Rabble Rouser then laughs before heading back into the jungle. The game then goes on to where Red team only had one last tower defending their Nexus, and the enemy team was closing in for the finish. Red team had to come up with a plan and come up with one fast. Of course everyone turned to Katarina who merely sighed.

"Ok guys. We have to focus that D'Artagnan chick and the hooded asshole. After that we just cleanup. Lulu and Sej: You two make sure to keep the tanks at bay so Lucy and Riven can help me kill the three squishies. I can't go in till the last minute to assassinate them, but by then it should be an easy win after that." the Noxian assassin explains. The rest of the group nods in agreement before putting their plan into action.

As predicted, Gragas and Thresh went in first to try and target the squishy targets. Sejuani and Lulu however did their jobs skillfully by using a combination of Glacial Prison to ensnare the enemy team in ice, and using Wild Growth on Lucian to give him more health so he stayed alive longer. The Purifier and Riven swiftly took down the tanks afterwards, leaving the vulnerable targets wide open. During the skirmish though, the yordle and Freljordian came close to dying to D'Artagnan and Cassiopeia, but they were immediately assassinated by Katarina.

"Hell yeah! That was some Grade A fuckin' teamwork guys!" cheered Katarina. The rest of her team roared in victory as they began to clear up the Super minions invading their base. "Wait that was only four of them!" yells Riven. The Noxian assassin quickly shifts to being on high alert before she is put into a state of shock. She had been lifted into the air by the remaining enemy champion with his scythe, then slammed her down into the ground, killing her instantly. He then shifted his attention to the four remaining champions and went to work.

First he targeted Sejuani as she had the lowest amount of health and used his Summoner Flash spell to teleport behind her, then strikes her down with his blade. He then shifts his attention to Lulu who was the closest and slays her almost instantly. Lucian and Riven start to retaliate to the enemy's assault but to no avail. The gunman was defeated as his body was cleaved with an uppercut from the silver-clad champion. The Exile was soon the last remaining Champion on the Red team's side.

In the background, the minions had grouped up and finished off the remaining tower. "A turret has been destroyed." speaks the Announcer. After he heard that, the silver-clad champion throws his scythe at her. She dodges it with her Valor, but her opponent behind her and jabs the flat part of his scythe into her back. Riven goes down from the attack but quickly retaliates with her Ki Burst. The enemy champion is stunned for a brief moment before growling and continuing his assault. The platinum-blonde haired champion thought she could finish off her foe with a few more auto attacks, but she quickly found herself with a curved blade sticking out of her chest. The Exile had been defeated.

"PENTAKILL!" roars the Announcer. Riven collapsed onto her knees but was caught by her opponent who held onto her tightly. "Sorry Riven... I had to make my big return flashy." he says to her quietly, a small smirk on his face. She softly chuckles before weakly punching his shoulder, "Elias... You're an ass." The last of her words spoken weakly the Exile dies. Elias then lays her body down gently on the ground, then finishes off the Nexus; creating a violent explosion as the crystal erupts into thousands of shards. "Victory!"

"Now for the fun part." sighs and exhausted Elias. Soon after, he was teleported outside of the meeting room to be greeted by an enormous mob of fans. They were all chanting his name loudly before he raised his fist into the air and yelled "Good to be back!" This sent the crowd into a frenzy and they roared even louder than before. Elias was then tackled to the ground by a mess of tears and pink hair. Annie clung onto her adoptive brother as tears poured down her face. "Is it really you?" she exclaimed. The Judge nods with his signature grin on his face and is hugged even tighter by the Dark Child.

When he looked up from the sprawled out mess that was clinging onto him, Elias saw that numerous fans were beginning to stampede over to him. He quickly slammed his palm into the ground which summoned a portal beneath them that sucked the two champions into it. They reappeared in Elias' room; away from all of the chaos. "How've you been Annie?" he asks after peeling her off of him. She sniffles and rubs her puffy eyes before replying, "You're a big fat meanie Eli! You were gone for a month!" The Judge rubbed the back of his head and nervously chuckled. "Where the hell were you?! And why do you look so much... older?" questions another voice.

In the doorway was a panting Riven who was glaring daggers at the Judge. He sighs tiredly and spreads his arms out, "It's a long story, but I hope this will clear things up."

* * *

_So uh... Hey everyone. Here's the next chapter (that only took 7 months to finish ffs, yes hate me all you want) finally! Sorry for the very long update but here it is. Here come the excuses so get ready. First off, I had that big event that happened that pretty much made my life to a full 180; aka life was feeling pointless and I was feeling pretty shitty from June, all the way to the middle of October ("fun times"). Secondly, I started my senior year in highschool which has demanded my full attention until recently where all that is left is a few tests and my finals so there's that to. And finally, I recently acquired a ferret which is both a lot of fun to own and also very time consuming given its still a baby and well... a ferret. So hopefully I can get right back on track to writing some more as I have missed it greatly._

_I also love how this is sort of turned into an ironic chapter as it marks the return of not only Elias, but myself as well. Well that's all for now readers. Don't forget to review if you want, and I'll see you in the next chapter._


	17. Chapter 17: Explanations

Chapter 17: Explanations

"We'll be back in about an hour or so. You guys go ahead and talk it out. Come on Annie." says Ezreal, tugging along the pink-haired mage with him. After an hour Elias had finished his story of where he was. "So... You were in your world. The entire time you were missing, correct?" asks the platinum-haired woman sitting on the bed. Elias had just finished with explaining where he had disappeared to for over a month and nodded or shook his head at her every question. "So how the hell do you look so much... older?" asks Katarina with her arms crossed. He sighs again and looks at them "You want the Zilean version? Or my version?" The two women look at each other before Riven speaks up. "Your version." "Well... Time passes a lot faster in my world apparently. A month here equals about a year or so there, so my body decided to catch up with all of the time I missed there. Nothing like going from being nineteen to twenty-six in under an hour..." he says the last part with a shiver.

Katarina looked at him in disbelief. "Wait you were nineteen? I thought you were at least twenty-one." Kat asks surprised. "Yeah I was a teenager. Why is that such a surprise?" he replies. "Well you sure acted a lot mature than your age. That's probably why." the redhead says. Elias was about to retort until he remembered how Jinx acted and shrugs. "You make a fair point" he says to her. "So do you mind telling us what took so damn long to get back to our world? Not even the Summoner's had an explanation as to how you even went back to your world alone without their help." Katarina asked, this time glaring at him. Elias sighed and shook his head again, "My version or Kassadin's?"

"Humor us and give us his version." she replies. "According to him, what I did was more or less what the creatures of the Void do to enter our world. Sorta like this." Elias says before flicking his wrist, summoning a black portal next to him. "But to get back to my world apparently needed either an immense amount of power, or an intense desire to return. In other words-" he was cut off by Riven interrupting. "Your 'break' from the League was enough to do so." He nods and looks up at her with a small smile on his face. "Exactly. In any event, what has been going on around here since I was gone? I noticed a lot of defenses up surrounding the city and the Institute." Elias asks the two female champions.

The air seemed to change around them when the Judge asked that. "That bastard Xerath attacked the city with his followers, Renekton leading the charge. Heimerdinger and Orianna luckily created a makeshift defense system that defended the city from any more harm, which thankfully has been improved upon. Then there was the ordeal with Annie being kidnapped in Piltover and returned back to Riven and Ezreal by some woman. I heard that he suffered a pretty nasty fate according to Caitlyn and Vi. Whoever put that creep in his place, I'd sure love to high-five for doing it for me." Katarina tells him. A small smirk appears on Elias' face and he slowly raises his hand up.

"You don't have to raise your hand to talk. We're all adults here; speak your mind." Riven said with a small smile, the first one she'd formed in over a month. The redheaded assassin shakes her head slightly and look at him in disbelief. "You did it? You were the mysterious man that saved Annie?" Kat says shocked. The Judge nods and waves his hand in her face, "I believe you owe me a high-five Kat." Katarina's face lit up with a smirk of her own and clasped hands with her raven-haired friend. "No one hurts my family without getting their just dues." he says with a small smile.

The trio laughs and sits there for a while to take in each other's company. "Another question: You've obviously been traveling around Runeterra. What for though? You trying to put together your own army to take down Xerath?" Katarina says the last part like a joke. "Actually... I have been doing exactly that. So far I have some unlikely supporters, but I'd like to get the whole continent's help before I make my move." he replies, looking at his hands. The redhead nods but Riven looks at him confusedly. "Are you ok Elias? You seem kind of... uneasy." she asks looking into his eyes.

"Yes, Elias. Why are you so uneasy?" interrupts a harsh voice. Talon steps out of the shadows with his arms crossed and a furious expression on his face. "Talon? What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be with Cass all week." Katarina asks surprised. "I was. Until I caught wind of a secret meeting between two powerful figures in Noxus and Demacia." he says in a cold tone, glaring daggers at the Judge. "Talon you-" Elias started before Talon lifted him up by the collar with his blade at his neck. "Where. Is. He!" barks the assassin. Katarina and Riven at this point attempted to pull the other Noxian off of Elias, but he simply moved his blade closer to his throat.

"Talon, I cannot tell you where he is. You should know this of all people!" the Judge pleads with the assassin. The hooded assassin presses his blade closer to the Judge's neck before angrily letting go of him. Talon was about to turn to walk out before his adoptive sister slammed her fist into his jaw. "What the FUCK is wrong with you Talon?!" she says, practically screaming at him. "He knows where Marcus is! And I know that you are only other person more determined to find him other than I Kat!"

She stands there stunned for a second to take in what he had just said. "Is that true Elias?" Katarina says turning to the Judge. He sighs heavily and nods, "Yes I do Kat. But I cannot tell you where or how you can find him." A frown comes across her face and she looks down. "Is he ok at least?" the redhead whispers. Smiling slightly Elias nods. "He's fine. A few gray streaks scattered throughout his hair, but he's still lively as ever." She smiles slightly and Talon tries to hide his own small smile as well. "Thank you Elias. It means a lot to know that my father is at least alive and kicking." Katarina tells him.

"Well, I must head back to Cass now. Do you want to tell her father is alive, or shall I?" Talon asks Kat. She shakes her head and looks back at him, "No I'll go tell her. I have to visit Noxus anyway for a meeting with Swain." He nods and vanishes from the room. "I'll talk to you when I get back Riven. And you. I expect you to stay around for good." Kat pokes Elias with her finger, a playful grin on her face. "I'm here for good now Kat. Don't worry about it." She nods and turns to exit the room. "Also Elias... Good to have you back." And with that she vanishes from the room.

After Katarina had left, Riven sits down and waves Elias to come to her. He does so and sits next to her. "Yes?" asks Elias. She simply shakes her head and lays it down on his shoulder, "I just missed you is all..." she says in almost a whisper. Elias smiles and pats her gently on the head. "I missed you too Riv." They sit there in silence as time seems to slow down around them. The platinum-haired woman looks down at his hands and starts to reach for them. She at first is hesitant but eventually musters up some courage and slips her hand into his. Elias noticed this and blushes some, but besides that he didn't say anything. The two took comfort in each others company before someone knocked loudly at the door.

Elias sighed and got up, leaving Riven with a small frown across her face. He smiled slightly at her and opened the door. "Hello Elias. I was asked by monsieur Ezreal to come and retrieve you. He is currently waiting in the atrium gardens leading to the pre-game lobby. "D'Artagnan says when the door is opened. "Oh, hello D'Art. Why did Ezreal send you instead of coming himself?" he asks. She shrugs and turns around, looking over her shoulder as she does so, "He said he was busy and could not go retrieve you himself." With that she walks away waving, Elias waves as well and closes the door. Riven sits up when the door was closed and looks at him. "You two seem close." she teases.

He chuckles and shakes his head. "D'Art and I were part of an organization made up of various peoples from all over my world who were sent to keep the peace between nations. It was made up of forty people when it started but after a massive attack at our base happened… there was only three left: me, D'Artagnan, and her now-husband Victor. During our time together though, it was us three that made up a group of what was nicknamed "The Three Musketeers". After a while of nothing happening I told them my plan of returning here and planning for the defense against Xerath. D'Art was for the idea, but Victor didn't want his wife to return back to intense combat; especially in an unknown place. He eventually let her go and well… the rest you know."

After his long speech Elias had noticed Riven staring at him with intrigued eyes. "I'll explain more if you want later. For now we have to find Ezreal." She sighs and nods in agreement. "I'll come with you then." she says lifting herself off the bed. He nods and opens the door letting her go out first. Riven exits the room and Elias follows soon afterwards. They start walking towards the atrium gardens in silence, Riven sneaking glances at his face as they go. She started to examine his changes from before and after he had left Runeterra. He had become more handsome than before: his jawline more defined, eyes more experienced looking, and his hair was more wild yet she found it mature in some way.

Elias seemed to notice this and chuckles. "Notice something you like?" he teases. The platinum-haired woman immediately turns her head away with a shade of crimson on her face. The Judge chuckles to himself and shakes his head. "Still easy to tease I see." She sticks her tongue out at him and looks back down, her face still reddened from before. A few moments later, Elias is tackled to the ground by a blur of pink. "ELI!" squeals an ecstatic Annie. "Annie! I told you not to run otherwise- Oh. Nevermind then." Ezreal says with a small chuckle. Elias laughs and pats her on the head, "Miss me that much?" She nods excitedly and clings onto the Judge as if he'd disappear again.

"So I guess you two have finished talking?" Ezreal asks. Elias nods and stands up, "Yeah, for now. Thanks for taking care of Annie, Ez." The blonde shakes his head and smiles, "Not a problem." Elias then plucks the pink-haired child and places her on his shoulders, earning a giggle from both her and Riven. The Prodigal Explorer looks at the three of them and chuckles to himself. "What is it Ez?" asks the Judge. "You guys just look like a happy couple touring the Institute with your child is all." he says with a small smirk.

Being called a couple caused Riven to turn a bright shade of pink which made Ezreal and Elias chuckle in unison. "I'll let you guys go. See you in the next match Elias." With that, Ezreal waves goodbye and walks away from the trio. "So what do you two want to do? We still have the rest of the day to spend, and I'm down for anything." the Judge asks the two female champions. They stand there for a second before Riven speaks up. "I think a walk through the atrium gardens would be nice. I remember you liked to walk through it every now again." she says with a smile. Elias and Annie nod in agreement and begin heading towards the atrium gardens.

On the way there they talk about how well Riven and Annie's matches have been going, the places Elias toured while he was in his world, and various other things that have happened. "Oh yeah, how are Zed and Syndra doing by the way?" the Judge asks Riven. She looks at him questioningly but shrugs, "They're ok I guess. Don't really talk to them much. Why do you ask?" "Just curious." he replies with a small grin. She tries to say something in reply, but shakes her head and continues walking.

A few minutes later they reached the gardens. Elias stood there and stared up at the various plants and wildlife that inhabited it. His favorites however were the black-and-white roses that were scattered across the entrance. "Glad to see those still are here." he says with a saddened sigh. "Yeah, not much has changed since you left Eli. Well here anyway. I mean things have changed but- You know what I mean." rambles Riven as she looks around.

A voice then comes over the global P.A. system and starts to list off the next matches taking place. _And substituting for Irelia will be Riven. The match begins in 5 minutes. All champions are to be in the lobby before the match starts. _Riven looks at Elias and Annie shocked and slightly disappointed, "I thought she was going to show up to her match! Damn it all, I won't make it in time for the match!" As the Exile stands there panicking about her match Elias just stands there and can't help but to smile. He found her cute when she was worrying about little things like this. "Hey, don't worry Rivs. I know a way to get you to your match on time." he tells her while still keeping his grin.

Both Annie and Riven have puzzled looks on their faces until he waved his hand and a dark portal appeared in front of them. "Ladies first," he says with a dramatic bow. They both eye him wearily but decide to walk through the portal with Elias in they arrived on the other side the trio was greeted by Riven's teammates. They were all startled at the sudden appearance of the group but Master Yi finally broke the silence, "Thank you Riven for coming on such a short notice." She gives a nervous chuckles and rubs the back of her neck before looking to Elias. "Was that the same thing you used in the match against me?" she asks him. "Yeah. Except I can use a much powerful version outside of the Rift." he says with a small smile. "We'll you had better get going. I'll be watching the match. Good luck!" Elias says while he and Annie wave goodbye.

Riven waves goodbye as well and joins her team in the pre-game lobby. "So, who am I laning against?" asks the silver-haired woman. "My brother unfortunately. Sorry girl." Draven says mockingly from the back of the group. She flinched some from remembering her last run in with the Hand of Noxus, "Since when were you two allowed to join matches again?" "Last week if you payed attention you pathetic excuse of a Noxian. But hey, just let Draven carry your worthless self and it'll all be good sweetcheeks." laughs the arrogant Noxian. She was about to say something before Master Yi stood in between the two and glared at them through his goggles. "Enough fighting you two. Arguing before the match even begins won't get us anything but a loss. Set aside your differences for now and focus on the task at hand." the Wuju master said sternly.

Janna merely shook her head and sat there out of the conflict. A few minutes later the team was enveloped in a blue light and magically appeared onto the Rift. After buying her items Riven looked over at Draven with a scowl, "You're lucky Yi stopped me. Otherwise you would have had my sword shoved up your ass, douchebag." He simple scoffed at her remark and ran down to his own lane. She was about to do the same before she felt a hand place itself on her shoulder. "You showed a great amount of restraint Riven. I understand it is hard for you to not kill that arrogant Noxian after what his brother and him did to both you and Elias, but you managed to stave off the feeling. Oh, and I'll camp top for you. Just get ready for the gank when you see me." Master Yi says with a small smile, which causes her to smile in return.

* * *

_In the viewing area..._

"Godbless Yi. If he didn't stop Riven from killing Draven there would have been another fiasco." Elias sighs while sipping on his drink. Annie looks up at him and nods in agreement which is mirrored by D'artagnan who also sips on her own drink. "Is Rivey gonna be ok, Eli?" asks the Dark Child. He sits there and swirls his drink in his hand with a blank expression across his face. Annie looks at him worriedly as D'Art simply snaps her fingers in his face, "Elias. You did the thing again." The raven-haired champion's attention snapped back to reality and looked down at his adoptive sister. "Yes. Sorry, I zoned out there. Riven will definitely win. There's no doubt in my mind." he says with a grin.

Annie giggles and flashes one of the brightest smiles she's made since Elias' return. This warmed the Judge's heart and he returned his gaze back to the match. A few minutes pass by and nothing has really happened. Both teams are farming safely, neither jungler has ganked yet, and overall it was a boring game. And although he didn't want to switch his attention to another match Elias found the one he was watching too boring to continue with. He then shifts his gaze around to other monitors and finds a match where Shyvana is fighting against an enemy Volibear.

The two champions were fighting ferociously with one-another. Shyvana was still in her human form and was holding her own against the massive bear. They both clawed and scratched at each other with their claws, both viciously trying to kill the other. "Enough, you sniveling cub! I'll show you how a true warrior fights!" roared Volibear. He stretches his paw high into the sky and an arc of purple lightning envelops his arms, then releases a loud roar to challenge the Half-Dragon. "A true warrior? Oh little bear, I have fought foes much worse than you on the battlefield. I will dance in your ashes!" Shyvana retorts. Her form slowly begins to change as wings sprout from her back, and her face shifts more into a snout. After a few seconds, the Half-Dragon has transformed into her true form: a large red dragon.

"He's soooo fucking dead!" Elias laughs but then ends up being slapped by someone. "Do not say zat in front of a small child Elias." scolds D'Artagnan. He rubs his face and looks up at her, "No wonder Vic is scared of you." She eyes him as if to say "keep talking, and see what happens" but he decided to not continue. They all watch the screen as the fight between Volibear and Shyvana had grown more intense. Voli was at about half health while Shyvana still had 75% of her health. After a few more hits the armored bear's passive kicked in which gave him a large boost of health regeneration. However it didn't matter as Shyvana's E ability "Flame Breath" came back up and she went back to mowing down his health. After a few more slashes and bites, Shyvana had won the fight and roared triumphantly over her foe.

"Yup. That's how I would have done it." says Elias with a smile on his face. Annie looks at him strangely before her attention shifts towards the lobby where Riven had gone in. The doors had opened and each team came walking through either grumbling or sighing. The Exile came out last and scanned the area before she had spotted her friends and walked towards them. "That was rather fast. You guys win that quickly?" asks Elias. Riven shakes her head and breathes a sigh of relief, "No we had to remake the game because Darius refused to fight me. So the match was cancelled, and since I wasn't supposed to be there in the first place I was able to get out of the match." The Judge ponders for a moment and stares blankly into space. "Elias... You're doing it again." D'Art tells him.

The Judge comes back to reality and looks around as if he was stunned. "Sorry. I got to thinking about how the game and how this world has changed alongside with it. Got carried away though." he says rubbing the back of his head, flashing his signature grin as he did so. "Anyway! I bet you guys are hungry right? Lets go get something to eat yeah?" Elias proposed. Annie nodded her head vigorously while Riven simply nodded, and D'Art shook her head in reply. "Aw come on! I know this great place in Ionia that I'm sure you'll love D'Art." The Judge says with a smile. "I highly doubt zat sir. What could possibly be in Ionia that I wou-" D'Art says but is cut off by Elias' hand. "Ionian food is much like Asian cuisine~." he says in a sing-songy tone. This immediately triggered a reaction in D'Artagnan's face that can only described as pure excitement. She gives a small cough before tipping her hat, "Well... if you say it's like Asian food... Then I have to reason to say no!" This causes the other three champions to laugh before Elias summons a portal to take them to Ionia.

* * *

When they had arrived in Ionia the first thing that surprised the group was that Irelia had been waiting for them. "Judge, Riven, Annie, and... I do not know who you are." Irelia says to the group. "This is D'Artagnan, the Iron Will. She's a new champion that just joined recently." replies Elias. The Ionian general nods and turns to Riven. "I wanted to apologize to you for having you fill in on such short notice. Some political business came up here in Ionia and I had to attend to it." The Exile shakes her head and smiles at the Ionian, "No it's fine. They ended up cancelling the match because Darius refused to fight me." Irelia nods her head and bows. "Bigger question: How the hell did you figure out where we would be when I used my corridor?" Elias asks slightly angry. Irelia just shakes her head and looks at him, "We have our ways, Judge. Also, Riven, I need to talk to you privately for a moment, I would greatly appreciate that." says The Will of the Blades to Riven. The platinum-haired champion looked confused for a second but nodded and the two walked off for a moment.

"I wanted to make it up to you somehow for putting you through that at the last second, so I managed to snag some tickets to The Blossom Festival that happens in a few days." Irelia says with a smile. "Wait, a festival? Why a festival?" Riven asks with a concerned tone. A devilish smile appears on Irelia's face and she wraps an arm around The Exile's shoulder, "Aw come on! It'll be a good time to get close to a certain someone that I know you like. I'm pretty sure you'll both enjoy it." Riven's face turns into a shade of crimson and looks down. "O-ok. But how can I tell him?" the platinum-haired champion asks the Ionian. She merely shrugs and hands her the tickets, "I dunno. But I'm sure you can figure out a way." The Exile takes them from her hands and nods meekly.

The two female champions return to the other three and Irelia bows once more before taking her leave. "What was that about?" asks Elias. "Oh nothing. She just wanted to give a more personal thank you in private is all." replies Riven, her clutching the tickets behind her back as she does so. He nods and turns to start walking, "We have about a mile's worth of walking before we get to the restaurant. Let's go before it gets too dark yeah?" The other champions nod in unison before following his lead.

After half an hour of walking the group finally arrives at a small building with the name "Igei Ton" in Ionian carved into a sign. "I haven't seen this place before while traveling Ionia. Was it just built?" asks Riven. Elias nods and walks up to the door, "Yeah. A buddy of mine from the League told me about this place and recommended it. So I figured I would take us there today." She gives a small nod in reply and the group follows Elias into the building.

Once inside the group was greeted by an old Ionian woman that bowed at the group. "Welcome, Champions of the League. We have been expecting your arrival." she says before coming back up. Elias returns the greeting with his own bow and looks around the place. "A lovely place you have here ma'am." he says with a smile. "And I hope it stays that way, Judge." says a man's voice from behind the elder. A tall man with a rather long pony-tail wearing tattered remains of what looks to be an old blue uniform of sorts with a sword strapped to his side comes up and bows to the group. Annie hides behind Elias when the man comes out and clutches Tibbers tightly. "Don't worry Yas; we came here to try the food you recommended to me the other day." The Judge says reassuringly.

The swordsman scratches his scruff before turning to the elder Ionian woman. Both of them exchange words in Ionian for a moment before Yasuo heads to the kitchen while the woman takes the group of champions to their table. Once they were seated, the Ionian elder pulls out a small kettle and begins to pour tea into some cups. She then distributes the cups to the four champions and then walks off after bowing to them. "Zis place iz quite beautiful Elias." D'Art says between sips of her tea. He nods in agreement and blows on his tea before drinking it. Riven and Annie do the same, to which the child smiles from the taste. "This is really good Eli!" the cherry-haired girl squeals in delight. This puts a smile on Elias' and Riven's face; his smile causing Riven to blush from looking at it.

The group of champions talk amongst each other about various things like their opinions on recent events, how life at the Institute was going, and playing catch up some more between them. Twenty minutes pass before Yasuo and the elderly Ionian come out with large platters of food. They both lay the platters across the table stocked with various Ionian foods and bow before leaving the group to themselves. They all gasp excitedly as they stare at the platter of food and begin digging into the meal. "Thish is really good Elias!" says Annie between bites of food. Riven and D'Art nod in agreement as they also mow down the delicious food. He smiles and continues to eat himself.

A few minutes later though a shiver makes it way down Elias' spine and he jolts upright as if on high alert. "Elias? What is it?" Riven asks slightly worried. He doesn't reply and only darts his eyes around the room. "D'Art I have to go. Watch these two, and tell Yasuo I'll pay him when I come back." he tells his friend seriously. She looks alarmed but merely nods. The Judge then summons a portal and looks over at Annie and Riven, "I'll explain when I get back. Just be safe in the meanwhile yeah?" Before either of them could reply he had already disappeared.

* * *

_In the Marshes of Kaladoun..._

"Protect the King! No matter what, keep him safe!" yells one of the guards protecting Jarvan III. An army of the undead had surrounded the carriage that was transporting the King of Demacia back to his home and they were barely being kept at bay by his soldiers. Various hellish ghouls snarled and gnashed their rotted teeth at the group of soldiers but did nothing; almost as if they were waiting for something. They soon parted and a ghostly figure made its way through the ranks. The King stepped out of his carriage and eyed wearily at the being before saying anything, "Who are you spirit? You look... oddly familiar." The ghostly figure floats there for a second before taking a dramatic bow. "I am The Deathsinger, Karthus. And I am here to bring you into the sweet embrace of Death." the Lich says with a cackle. This causes the King's men to gather in a tightened formation around their King and they all raised their weapons at The Deathsinger.

"Pitiful attempt I'm afraid. Now, SING WITH YOUR FINAL BREATH!" roars Karthus. He raises his staff and book into the air and begins to channel his "Requiem" ability to end the lives of the King and his men. A gunshot and a hole appears in the Lich's ethereal form, causing him to stop his channel. "Not today Karthus. They don't die unless I say so." says a voice from afar. When Karthus and the King looks over to where the voice is they see a man shrouded in silver holding a single pistol. "Judge..." growls Karthus as he sights his new enemy.

* * *

_A.N: Uh... hi. Here's a new chapter. Long story short: Finished my senior year, lost the spark to write, just started college in August, and now I'm back. I'll try to get chapters out in a semi-timely manner but... how long will that last. Also I was climbing to Plat (which I got) so that took a lot of my time as well. Anyway, see you next chapter... whenever that is. *insert obligatory **"hehe xd"***_


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